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HISTORY 



THE UNITED STATES 



BEFORE THE REVOLUTION: 



WITH 



SOME ACCOUNT 



%itt l^i^otisime. 



BY EZEKIEL SANFORD, 



PHILADELPHIA: 

PUBLISHED BV ANTHONY FINIEY, 

'William Brown, Printer. 

1819. 



Eastern Bislrict of Pennsylvania, to wit : 

Bk it liEME^TBEREB, That on the nineteenth daj"^ of February, in the 
forty-tliird year of the independence of the United States of America, 
A. D. 1819, Ezckicl Sanford, of the said district, hath deposited in this 
office the title of a book, the right whereof lie claims as author, in the 
words following, to wit : 

•'A History of the United States before the Revolution : with some Account 
of the Aborigines. By Ezekiel Sanford." 

In conformity to the act of the congress of the United States, entitled, 
"An act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of 
maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, 
during the times therein mentioned." — And also to the act, entitled, "An 
act supplementary to an act, entitled, 'An act for the encouragement of 
learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors 
and proprietors of such copies dui'ing the times therein mentioned,' and 
extending the benefits thereof to the arts of designing, engraving, and 
etching historical and other prints." 

D. CALDWELL, 
Clerk of the Eastern Distnct of Pennsi/lvama, 






/ 



37 
ADVERTISEMENT. 



The title of this volume might appear a solecism, if 
the reader were not made acquainted with the plan 
of the author. He divides our history into three 
separate periods: — the history Before the Revolution; 
the history During the Revolution; and the history 
Since the Revolution. Though we have not always 
been known by the same name, we have always been 
essentially the same people; and, for the uniformity 
of title, the reader may be willing to excuse a little 
inaccuracy of language. The present volume has 
been written during the vacant hours of a person not 
yet involved in business; and whether he will here- 
after find leisure, or encouragement, to complete the 
work, time alone can determine. 



IV ADVERTISEMENT. 

The author must not be supposed to hope, that 
he has superseded the necessity of all other Ameri- 
can histories. Our society is not yet sufficiently 
advanced in the refinements of luxury, to create a 
class of men exclusively devoted to literature; and, 
until that epoch shall have arrived, it will be in vain 
to expect such a history of our own country, as has 
been written of others. In the mean time, however, 
the nation may be gratified with some general ac- 
count of its progress from childhood to maturity: 
and, if the author shall be found to have succeeded 
in such a performance, it is the highest merit, to 
which he has any pretensions. His object has not 
been to give the details, but to glance at the summits, 
of affairs; — sequari fastigia rerum. Compression, 
therefore, has been his great study; and he fears, 
indeed, that he has adopted a scale of abridgment too 
concise; and that, in labouring to be brief, he has 
often become obscure. 

It seemed not improper to preface a History of 
the United States, with some Account of the Abori- 
gines. The author has begun the subject at the 



ADVERTISEMENT. Y 

highest point; and endeavoured to throw some light 
upon all the questions connected with their origin, 
their revolutions, their numbers, and their disappear- 
ance. Much has been written concerning the In- 
dians; but the object has too often been to make 
a book; and we are accordingly treated with spe- 
culation, when we ask for knowledge, and find a 
romance, where we expected a history. Such facts 
as the author could collect, he has faithfully commu- 
nicated; and perhaps the third section contains the 
first attempt at a history of the several tribes, within 
the territory of the present United States. 



PHILADELPmA, } 
Feb. 18, 1819. \ 



CONTENTS. 



THE ABORIGINES, 
SECTION I. 



Page 
Fabulous History — &c. ------ jx 

SECTION II. 
Uncertain History — &c. .--.__ ixx 

SECTION III. 
More Certain History — &c. - - - - cxxii 



THE UNITED STATES. 

CHAPTER I. 
Voyages of Columbus — 8cc. - - _ - . i 

CHAPTER II. 
First Efforts of the Plymouth Company — &c. - - 31 

CHAPTER III. 

DiflFerent Effects — 8cc. ----- 56 

CHAPTER IV. 
Paper Money — 8cc. 98 

CHAPTER V. 
War between France and England — Sec. - - 122 



VUl CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Page 
Indian Wars — &c. -.-._. i68 

CHAPTER VII. 

Seeds of the Revolution — &c. - - - - 184 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Birth and Early Life of Washington — Sec. - - 221 



NOTES. 



Note (A). ..... 257 

(B). - - - - - 261 

(C). ----- 263 

(D). - - - - - 264 

(E). - - - ... 270 

(F). 272 

(G). 284 

(H). 285 

(I). - - ... 286 

(J). ib. 

(K). 288 

(L). - - - - - 289 

(M). ----.• 295 

(N). - - - - - 299 

(O). ..... 308 

(P). ----- 310 

(Q). ib. 

(R). 317 

(S). ----- 318 

(T). ib. 



INDEX 321 



THE ABORIGINES. 



SECTION I. 

Fabulous Histoi'y. — Different Pretenders to the Original Dis- 
covery of America — 'The Phoenicians — The Welsh — The 
Chinese — The Norwegians — The Germans : — America, 
how originally peopled? — By the Europeans? — By the 
Asiatics? — Or by Neither? 

Plato, we believe, is the earliest author, who has 
given us the description of a country, which might be 
taken for America. While yet a boy, he says, he 
was told by his grandfather, that, after the gods had 
divided the universe, Neptune took to himself a mor- 
tal spouse; and, having several children, bestowed 
upon them their rightful portions of his empire. To 
Atlas, the eldest, he gave a vast island, beyond the 
Pillars of Hercules; which, after him, was called At- 
lantis. Never, perhaps, was a king blessed with so 
rich and beautiful a country, or so prosperous and 
happy a people. The bowels of the earth teemed 
with the precious metals; while the surface displayed 



X THE ABORIGINES. SEC. I. 

every variety of nutricious and aromatic plant, root, 
Irnit, and flower. The woods furnished a covert for 
all descriptions of useful and comely beasts; and were 
replete with birds of every sort, whether distinguished 
by the beauty of their plumage, or the melody of their 
notes. Innumerable ships, capacious harbours, mag- 
nificent bridges, splendid edifices, gymnasia, hippodro- 
mes, aqueducts, reservoirs, — every thing, in a word, 
which indicates the highest state of opulence, pros- 
perity, and civilization, — might be found in the felici- 
tous dominions of Atlas. The temple of Nv ptune alone 
was six hundred and tvventy-five feet long, and three 
hundred and sixty broad; with spires of silver, columns 
of gold, and walls and pavements of brass. This 
vision was too bright to be permanent; and, that the 
end of the story might be consistent with the begin- 
ning, the w hole island of Atlantis is said to have been, 
swallowed up, at last, by a voracious whirlpool.* 

Most readers would take this to be a new proof of 
the observation, that Plato was a poet by nature, and 
a philosopher by chance: yet there are not wanting 
ancients, who assert the actual existence of such an 
island as Atlantis; nor moderns, who imagine that 
island to have been no other than America. Some- 
thing like truth is conjectured to be the substratum of 

* Plat, in Ti.it. et Grit. Opera. Lugdini. 1690. pp. 525. 561, 562 
The story was first told to Solon by an Egyptian priest. 



SEC. I, THE ABORIGINES. xi 

all heathen factions; and the stoiy of Plato's grand- 
father is supposed to have been fabricated from the 
traditional accounts of the Phoenicians; who, as we 
are told, performed two voyages, at least, to this hemi- 
sphere; — the first, it would seem, from a deliberate 
predetermination, under the same Atlas of whom we 
have just spoken; — the second, much against their 
will, in consequence of a violent storm, which drove 
their vessel from the coast of Africa, and carried her 
to an extensive island or continent far to the west of 
Lybia.* From Phoenicia the knowledge of the New 
World would, of course, be transferred to Carthage; 
and Aristotle is quoted as saying, that the merchants 
of the latter performed such frequent voyages hither, 
as to make the senate fear the depopulation of their 
city, and endeavour to prevent it by law.f 

The voyage of Atlas may have been the origin of 
the account already given; but we can find no special 
reason for believing this to be the real prose of the 
fable; and, even if we should admit such a voyage to 
have been performed, it will by no means follow, that 
Atlas came to America; for the vast island, according 
to Plato's own account, was not beyond sight from the 
Pillars of Hercules. The second voyage, if it may 
be so called, is quite as improbable as the first. That 

* Honxiis de Origine Gent, Amer. 1. i. c. 6. — Diot>. Src. 1. v, c. 19. 
f Aristot. de Mund. c. 3. 



Xii THE ABORIGINES. SEC. I. 

a vessel should be blown off the coast of Africa, and 
driven to this continent, is not surely impossible, — 
though the course of winds must have strangely shifted 
since that time: but, without chart, or compass, or 
much astronomical skill, how was she to get back, to 
carry the intelligence.'^ 

Our authors are not satisfied with this absurdity. 
They suppose the Phoenicians, not only to have made 
a voyage or two; but to have planted colonies here, 
and carried on a trade between the two continents. 
This would give us new ideas of their proficiency in 
the arts and sciences, which are subservient to navi- 
gation; but, without resorting to so invidious a topic, 
we may mention a single circumstance, which, it ap- 
pears to us, will equally refute all the stories of early 
European colonies. Making every allowance for 
modern degeneracy, we suppose it will hardly be con- 
tended, that the ancients were completely proof against 
the original climate of the New World; and, if only a 
half or a third as many of them perished in their at- 
tempts at colonization, as were lost in those of more 
modern times, the facts would have become so noto- 
rious as to have enabled their historians to give us 
authentic statements, instead of obscure fables. 

The Welsh are the next claimants to the original 
discovery of America. In the year 1 1 70, the sons of 
Owen Gwyneth are said to have contested the sue- 



SEC. I. THE ABORIGINES. Xlll 

cession to North Wales; the eldest being -00111110(1 
' unmeet to govern, because of the maim upon his 
' face.^ Madoc, one of the brothers, seems to have 
thought, that his own prospect was hopeless, or that 
it was hardly worth while to quarrel for so trifling a 
stake; and he resolved to seek some other region, 
where it would not be necessary to establish his title 
by force, or to maintain it by oppression. Sailing 
westward, from the northernmost point of Ireland, he 
came, at length, to a country, where, though he ' saw 
*^many strange things,^ he found no inhabitants; and 
where, of course, he might rule, without the fear of 
competition or dethronement. He returned to pro- 
vide himself with subjects; and, setting sail again, 
with a number of ships, is supposed to have planted a 
colony in the New World.* This tale only exists in 
the traditional poetry of the Welsh; and, though it 
found converts during the last century, the expedi- 
tion of Lewis and Clarke has dissipated the fable of 
Welsh Indians up the Missouri. 

Sir John Mandeville, who wrote in the fourteenth 
century, has a still more extraordinary story, concern- 
ing an early British adventurer. He is endeavouring 
to prove, from his own experience, that the earth is 
round; and, since his speculations were published a 

* Poweil's Hist, of Wales. Ap. Hackiutt's Voyages, vol. iii. pp. 

506-7. 



XIV THE ABORIGINES. SEC. 1. 

century before the voyages of Colnmbus, they must 
take from the latter the praise of originality, in sug- 
gesting the existence of new continents, or the cir- 
cumnavigability of the globe. As tiie people to the 
north, he observes, guide themselves by the 'lode 
sterre;' so those of the south are guided by a similar 
star, called the ' antartyke.' ' For whiche cause, (he 
adds,) men may vvel perceyve, that the lond and the 
see ben of rownde schapp and forme. For the partie 
of the firmament schewethc in o coiitree, that schevv- 
ethe not in another contree. And men may well 
preven by experience and sotyle compassement of 
wytt, that zif a man fond passages be schippes, hat 
v/olde go to serchen the vvoi'lde, men might go be 
schippe all aboute the worlde, and aboven and bene- 
then.' He then shows much ' experience and sotyle 
compassement of wytt,' in proof of tlie fact; and con- 
cludes, as he began, ' that men may envirowne alle 
the erthe of aile the world, as well under as aboven, 
and turn azeu to his contree, that hadde companye 
and schippynge and conduyt: and all weyes he 
scholde fynde men, londes, and yles, als vvel as in this 
contree.^ 

As an additional proof of his assertion, he sub- 
joins the story just alluded to. 'And therefore,' he 
says, ' hath it befallen many times of a thing, (we 
drop the old orthography,) that I have heard counted, 



SEC. I. THE ABORIGINES. XV 

when I was young: how a worthy man departed some 
time from our country, for to go to search the world. 
And so he passed India, and the islands beyond India^ 
where there are more than five thousand islands: and 
so long hC; went by sea and land, and so environed 
the world by many seasons, that he found an island, 
where he heard his own language spoken, calling on 
oxen in the plough, such words as men speak to beasts 
in his own country: whereof he had great marvel: 
for he knew not how it miglit be. But I say that he 
had gone so long, by land and by sea, that he was 
coming again environing; that is to say, going about 
to his own marches, ' zif he wold have passed forth, 
till he had founden his contree and his own know- 
leche.'*' 

The Chinese are, also, said to have visited Ame- 
rica, before its discovery by Columbus. It was in 
the year 1270, that China was overrun by the Tar- 
tars; and it is supposed, that a body of one hundred 
thousand inhabitants, refusing obedience to their new 
masters, set sail, in one thousand ships, to find a 
new country, or perish in the enterprise. The origin 
of Mexico is thus ascertained; and, that the account 
might be confirmed to demonstration, some authors 
tell us, that the wrecks of Chinese vessels have been 

* JoHxsoN-'s History of the English I-miguag'e, 



XVI THE ABORIGINES SEC. I. 

seen in Florida and Quivira.* We must question, 
whether this people were then sufficiently skilful in 
navigation to double Cape Horn; and we can find no 
good reason, why they should sail around the whole 
continent of South America, to arrive at a place, 
which might have been reached by so much shorter 
a route. Of all nations, the Chinese are the most obsti- 
nately attached to their own soil; and, when we add, 
that, though both they and the Tartars have historians 
for this period, no mention is made by either of so no- 
table an event,! little credit, we think, can be given to 
the story. 

Next come the Norwegians. We have not been 
enabled to investigate the evidence of their claims; 
and, indeed, nearly all we know on the subject, is 
contained in a letter from Dr. Franklin to Mr. Mather, 
dated London, July 7, 1773. 'You have,^ says he, 
' made the most of your argument, to prove that Ame- 
rica was known to the ancients. There is another 
discovery of it claimed by the Norwegians, which you 
have not mentioned, unless it be under the words ' of 
old viewed and observed,' page 7. About twenty-five 
years since. Professor Kalm, a learned Swede, was 
with us in Pennsylvania. He contended, that Ame- 
rica was discovered by their northern people, long 

* Hoiix. ut sup. 1. iii. c. 4, 5 ; or Hahuis' Voyages, Introd. 
+ Hist, of China. Anc. Univ. Hist. vol. :^:?, 



SEC. I. THE ABORIGINES. XVll 

before the time of Columbus; which I doubting, he 
drew up and gave me, some time after, a note of 
these discoveries which I send you inclosed/* We 
believe, this notion was first promulged by Grotius; 
who divides America into the Septentrional and 
Middle; and conjectures, that, while the former was 
settled by the Norwegians, the people of the latter 
came from China, ^Ethiopia, and other countries. 

The honour of discovering America was once 
claimed for the Normans; but their pretensions were 
founded upon an obscure passage in an obscure 
author; and, if they have not been abandoned by the 
nation itself, they find no supporters beyond the limits 
of its territor}\ The Germans may equally despair 
of success. It is said, upon what good authority, we 
know not, that one Martinus, a noble Bohemian, dis- 
covered the coast of Brazil and the Straits of Ma- 
gellan, long before the voyages of Columbus; and 
some German authors have stoutly laboured to per- 
suade the world, that the continent should be called 
Bohemia, instead of America. 'But, (it is gravely 
answered by a certain historian,) supposing that the 
particulars relating to Martinus' discoveries were 
much better supported than we really take them to 

* Fbank. Works, Amer. Edit. vol. vi. p. 77. We are ashamed to 
quote so vile an edition of our philosopher's works; but there is no 
other at hand. 

h 



XVni THE ABORIGINES. SEC. I. 

be, insomuch that there was not the least reason to 
doubt the certainty of them, yet as the name of Ame- 
rica has been so long used by the European nations, 
it would not be proper, at this time of day, to substi- 
tute another in its place.'* 

Some moderns have devised a new way of solving 
the riddle of Plato; and, as it seems absurd to sup- 
pose, that the early Europeans or Asiatics introduced 
themselves to America by long voyages, the later 
authors endeavour to obviate the necessity of any 
voyage at all. The Hindoos relate a fable concern- 
ing the destruction of an island, called Atcda: the Irish 
have a vague tradition about the loss of land by earth- 
quakes: the Giant's Causeway is supposed to have 
some connexion with the subject; and it is observed, 
that many of the islands, in the Atlantic and Pacific, 
either are, or have been, the seats of volcanos. From 
such data as these, we are called upon to believe, 
that an extent of territory, from the western coast of 
Europe to the eastern shore of Asia, has been sunk 
by a series of earthquakes; that the islands, just men- 
tioned, are merely the tops of its mountains; and that 
the inhabitants of those islands are the posterity of 
such as were left on dry land, in the general submer- 
sion.f As giants may be killed with pebble-stones, a 

* Anc. Univ. Hist. vol. xx. p. 194-5. 

f One of our own countrymen has thrown together many new facts iji 
support of this theory. See Researches in America, &c. By James 



SEC. I. THE ABORIGINES. XIX 

theory too monstrous is easily subverted by a single 
fact. Does an earthquake give men time to fly to the 
tops of mountains? Or were men, at that period, so 
different from what they are now, as to settle upon the 
hills, instead of the vales? 

By far the most numerous class of writers are of 
opinion, that America was peopled by wanderers from 
Asia, across Behring's Strait. The shortest distance 
between the two continents, at this place, is only forty 
miles: the strait is entirely frozen over in winter; and, 
as there are known to be inhabitants upon the two 
opposite shores, it seems easy to conclude, that they 
once belonged to the same people. The objection, 
that the Tchutchi, on the Asiatic, and the Esquimaux, 
on the American side, are very different from the 
other tribes of the respective continents, is by no 
means conclusive; for it still remains to be determined, 
whether peciiliarities of climate, and different modes 
of life, are not sufficient to account for all these 
diversities of feature, form, and habit. Perhaps, 
indeed, the only insurmountable objection to this hy- 
pothesis, is, that, to account for the emigration of 
men, will unveil but half of the mystery: — our ani- 
mals, too, must have come from Noah's ark; and the 
misfortune of the theory, is, that it supposes beasts 

li. M'CuLLocH, M. D. Bait. 1817- American authors have not yet the leisure 
to write with method, or with elegance ; and this book seems to have been 
composed and printed in the same spirit of haste and carelessness. 



JCX THE ABORTGLNES. SEC. I. 

and birds, which cannot exist beyond the tropical pa- 
rallels, to have crossed over at a place, where spirits 
of wine are almost congealed. 

The only remaijiing explanation, wliich will be 
likely to find supporters, is, that the aboriginal men 
and animals of America were not destroyed in the 
flood, and have been the progenitors of its present 
native inhabitants. Something may be urged, with 
plausibility, at least, to reconcile this hypothesis with 
scriptural history. As Moses was only acquainted 
with the Old World, he may be supposed to have 
spoken only of that: it was the sins of the Old World 
which required purification; and, though the flood 
might have covered every mountain, on the other con- 
tinent, it would not have reached the top of many, in 
this.*' Some of the Indian tribes are said to have a 
tradition, that their first parents were saved from an 
universal deluge, by flying to the summits of moun- 
tains; and it is acknowledged, that there are many 
genera of animals in America, which have no proto- 
type in the other hemisphere. 

* AVe liave not noticed the fact, that animal remains are found upon 
the summits of mountains. No person has yet surmounted tlie tops of the 
Andes. Similar remains are found in mines. Those who adduce the 
circumstance, to prove the absolute universality of the deluge, suppose, 
that the earth was then reduced to chaos ; but the globe could hardly be 
dissolved by an immersion in water for only forty days ; and, if the appear- 
ance of these remains may be accounted for, from a chaos at all, it is much 
anore rational to refer tliem io the original cliaos. 



SEC. I. THE ABORIGINES. XXX 

To all this, it may be answered, that the supposi- 
tion of Moses' ignorance is entirely gratuitous; that 
the words of our English Bible — 'it repented the 
Lord, that he had made man' — can hardly be recon- 
ciled with the idea of restricting his vengeance to the 
Old World; that the Indian traditions, besides being 
imperfectly ascertained, are obscure and contradic- 
tory; and that the topic of a difference in the kind of 
animals, while it is not founded upon absolute facts, 
would equally prove, that some parts of Europe, Asia, 
and Africa, escaped the waters of the flood. What 
should induce the sukotyro to keep within the bounds 
of Asia? Whence is it, that the hippopotamus and 
hyrax are only found in Africa.'^ Why will the dodo 
inhabit no other islands than those of France, Bour- 
bon, and Roderegues in the Indian Ocean .^ Or what 
reason can be found, for the attachment of the con- 
dor to the peaks of the Andes .^ This is taking it for 
granted, that the differences in question are undoubt- 
edly real; but the progress of discovery is daily prov- 
ing animals to be common to both hemispheres, which 
were formerly supposed to be peculiar to one; and it 
is not for the present generation to say, that half a 
century will not establish the universality of them all. 

It may, also, be urged against the latter theory, 
that, unless the nature of the globe has undergone 
some surprising change, it will ])e as difficult to con- 



XXii THE ABORIGINES. SEC. I. 

ceive how the antediluvian men and animals came 
hither, as to account for their emigration since the 
flood. It must be remembered, however, that the 
difficulty is not so much to ascertain the mode, in 
which the human race peopled this continent, as to 
explain that, in which beasts and birds effected their 
transit. There is a remarkable difference, not only 
in the scriptural history, — but in the specific qualities, 
of the two races. We are not told, that no more than 
one pair of each bird and beast was, at first, created; 
nor that they were only created in the vicinity of 
Paradise. The Lord commands the 'earth' to pro- 
duce animals, in nearly the same language as he com- 
mands the water to move with fish; and, while it is 
almost certain, that the various fish of the ocean,— ^ 
particularly the whale, — could not have lived in the 
rivers of Paradise, it is hardly possible, that animals, 
which can only exist in particular temperatures, should 
have been all produced in the Garden of Eden. Man, 
on the contrary, is capable of enduring any climate: 
and a nation is said to have been found as high as the 
sixty-sixth parallel; who suppose, that they own the 
whole earth, and are its sole inhabitants. It was not 
necessary, therefore, to create different pairs of the 
human race for the different portions of the globe. 
But, without such a provision in the case of animals, 
it will forever remain a mystery, how they ascertained 



SEC. I. THE ABORIGINES. XXlll 

the particular zones, to which their respective natures 
are adapted; nor will it be any easier to account for 
their dispersion over the old continent, than to de- 
vise the mode of their emigration to this. 

Here may be the proper place to notice an author, 
who denies the universality of the deluge; and thinks, 
he has found indubitable marks of antediluvian ex- 
istence, in the monumentsof Mexico and Peru.* We 
cannot follow him through five volumes of desultory 
speculation; and perhaps it will be enough to state, 
that he explains the fable of Plato by supposing, that, 
before the flood, the Old and New Worlds were united 
by a vast isthmus, now sunk in the Pacific. Incjeed, 
if we rightly comprehend him, he means, that the 
flood itself was no more than the submersion of the 
intermediate continent. The idea is not entirely 
original; for it was observed, of old, that Plato was 
only Moses speaking in Greek. 

Lord Bacon has still another version of the story. 
' If you consider well,' says he, ' of the people of the 
West Indies, it is very probable, that they are a newer, 
or a younger people than the people of the Old W^orld; 
and it is much more likely, that the destruction that 
hath heretofore been there, was not by earthquakes, 

* Essai sur cette question : quand et comment rAmorique a-t-elle 
etc peiiplee d'Hommes et d'Animaux ? Par E. B. d'E. 5 tomes 12mo. 
Amsterdam, 1767. 



XXIV THE ABORIGINES. SfeC. L 

(as the ^Egyptian priest told Solon, concerning the 
Island of Atlantis, that it was swallowed by an earth- 
quake,) but rather that it was desolated by a particular 
deluge: for earthquakes are seldom in these parts: 
but on the other side, they have such pouring rivers, 
as the rivers of Asia and Africa and Europe, are but 
brooks to them. Their Andes likewise, or mountains, 
are far higher than those with us; whereby it seems, 
that the remnants of generations of men were in such 
a particular deluge, saved.'* Thus, no two authors 
can agree upon the same interpretation; and, while 
one makes the Indians the oldest, another proves them 
the newest, people on the globe. 

Turn which way we will, then, there appear to 
be contradictions, which it would be hard to recon- 
cile, and obstacles, which it is almost impossible to 
surmount. It may be, that the incompetency of the 
^'W•iter is mistaken for the difficulty of the subject 
There may be a thread, by which he can rule his 
blind footsteps; but it will be confessed, at least, that, 
while the labyrinth is dark and intricate, our lights 
are few, dim, and unsteady. Were we obliged to make 
a choice, perhaps we should pitch upon the theory, 
which supposes the deluge to have been complete 
only in the Old World. It does not imply any re- 
volting absurdity: some modification of it has been 

* Bacos's Essay Of the Vicissitudes of Things. 



SEC. I. THE ABORIGINES. XXV 

supported by the ablest writers upon the subject;* and 
it will serve to explain more of the phenomena, than 
eit<lier of the others. On the contrary, we do not be- 
lieve, that any scheme can be formed to derive the 
aborigines of the Americas from Asia, Europe, or 
Africa, which, in the present state of knowledge, may 
not be perplexed with numerous and irreinoveable 
objections. Were it not for the birds and beasts, per- 
haps the second theory would be the most plausible; 
but, to exclude animals from the calculation, is to 
abandon the Mosaic history; and, if we once lose sight 
of that, there is no more reason for making the Ame- 
ricans descendents from the Asiatics, than the Asiatics 
descendents from the Americans. 

Three topics of argument are generally resorted 
to, in the discussion of this subject. — similarities of lan- 
guage, traditions, manners, and monuments, — which 
we have reserved for a separate consideration, because 
they are not exclusively applicable to any particular 
theory. It is their greatest objection, indeed, that 
they have been applied with equal success to all. We 
cannot take the pains to enumerate the different hy- 
potheses, which three centuries have produced, to 
develop and elucidate this mystery; but, in all the va- 
rious idioms of language, and modes of life, which 
distinguish the aboriginal tribes of America, we have 

* Baco-v, Hcmbolt, E. B. fl'E, &c, 
C 



XXVI THE ABORIGINES. SEC. I. 

never known an author fail of finding a sufficient 
number of etymologies, customs, and ceremonies, to 
support the particular idea, which he has started or 
espoused. Though there may be ten dissimilarities 
for one resemblance, and though that one resemblance 
be imperfect and obscure, the novelty of a beautiful 
hypothesis eclipses all other considerations; and tribes, 
which can hardly be said to have a single thing in 
common, are pronounced to be branches of the same 
people. 

Solinus mentions a nation of Asiatics, called the 
Apala^i; and, in Herodotus, we read of the Massa- 
getae, in the neighbourhood of the Caspian Sea. The 
former are found in the Apalachi of Florida; the 
latter in the Mazaticse of New Spain, and the Mas- 
sachusitse of New England. Ptolemy speaks of the 
Tabieni; and the Tambi were an ancient nation of 
Peru. The Cunadani inhabited the north of Asia; and 
there was a city in Upper Hungary, called Chunad. 
No person, therefore, could mistake the derivation of 
Canada. The Chonsuli about Nicaragua are identi- 
fied with the Hunni, or Chuni; and the Parii of 
Scythia are supposed to have named the South Ame- 
rican region of Paria. The Hurons are a branch of 
the Huyrones, who live in the neighbourhood of the 
Mogids. The Olopali of Floj-ida, the Nepi of Trini- 
dad, and the Iroquois, of the north, are the same with 



SEC. I. THE ABORIGINES. XXVll 

the Parii, the Nepi, and the Irycge of Herodotus. 
The Moguls are the progenitors of the Tomogali and 
Mogoles about the River La Plata; and how nearly do 
the Choten, Baita, and Tangur, of Great Tartary, 
resemble the Coton of Chili, and the Paita and Tan- 
gora of Peru? The Japanese are found under both 
their appellations. The Chiapanecse about Nicara- 
gua retain their common name; and the Zipangri of 
Hispaniola, the one, which was given them by the 
Tartars. The word Sacks is one synonime of the 
Celts; and there is a tribe of Indians, who have the 
same name, to a letter. The Abydos of the Greeks 
has since been called Nagara; and our Niagara corres- 
ponds with it, both in name and situation. 

The Peruvians think, they descended from one 
Mancu; and there are Manchew Tartars. The natives 
of Virginia and Guatimala are said to have a tradition 
concerning Madoc; and his name has been detected 
as a part of the Guatimalan Matoc-Zunga and Mat- 
Inga. The double L of the Spanish is said to have 
been derived from the Mexicans,* who took it from 
the Welsh; and, when the Dutch first carried to Eu- 
rope a bird, which they found at the Straits of Magel- 
lan, and which the natives called Penguin, the Welsh 

* It is a little singular, that, while the Mexicans are said to have two 
I's, the Cherokees cannot pronounce one. Barton's New Views of the 
Originof the Tribes and Nations of America. Phil. 1797, p. xliv. 



SXVlll THE ABORIGINES. SEC. I. 

discovered, that, with the aptest correspondence to its 
description, the same word, in tlieir own language, 
signified White-head. The words gurando, to hear- 
ken, corroeso, an island, and gmjndor, a river, have 
all been found among the natives of America; and are 
all known to be genuine words in the old British or 
Welsh. Many other similarities have been discovered; 
and one author has written a book for no other pur- 
pose, than to prove the identity of the languages spoken 
by the ancient Britons and the natives of Darien.* 

The evidence in favour of the Hebrews, is, per- 
haps, still more plausible. The greater part of the 
similar words have been recently arranged in columns;! 
and perhaps it is the most convenient mode of exhibit- 
ing the subject to the reader. 

English. Charibbee. Creeks. Mohegan, Hebrew. 

and Northern 
Languages. 

Dead man, Nectali, Ibid. 

He is dead, Hilaali, Ibid. 

Sugar-cane, Kaniche, Ibid. 

* Essay, Stc. Edinburgh, 1738. 

I Star in the West ; or, A Humble Attempt to discover the long lost 
Tribes of Israel, &.c. By Elias Bouhinot, L. L. D. Trenton, N. J. 1816. 
Dr. Boudinot is mistaken, if he supposes this to be the first appearance 
of the star in the West. It was seen, at least, in the year 1650. See 
Thokowgood's Jews in America ; or. Conjectures concerning the origin 
of the American Indians. Lond. And L'Estraxge's Americans no Jews; 
er an Answer to Thohowgood's Conjectures. 



SSC. I. 



THE ABORIGINES. 



XXIX 









Mohegan, 


English. < 


Charibbee. 


Creeks. 


and Nor 
Langus 


thern Hebrew. 
Lges. 


His wife, 


Liani, 






Li bene. 


My wife, 


Yene-nori, 






Hene harrani. 


Come hither, 


Hace-yete, 




Aca 


-ati (Samaritan). 


The heavens, 


Chemim, 






Shemim. 


Jehovali, 


Jocanna, 


Y. He. H 


o.Wah. 


Jehovah. 


Roman, 


Ishto, 






Ishto. 


Man, 


Ish, 


Ishte, 




Ish. 


I, 






Niah, 


Ani, or Ahni. 


Thou, or thee 


i 




Keah, 


Ka. 


This man, 




♦ 


Uwevoh, Huah. 


We, 






Necaunah, Nachnu. 


Assembly, 


Kurbet, 






Guir,orGrabit. 


Necklace, 


Enca, 






Ong. 


Wood, 


Hue, 






Oa(Clialdaic). 


My skin, 


Nora, 






Ourni. 


I am sick, 


Nane guaete, 




Nauceheti. 


Good bye to you, Hulea tibou, 




Ye hali ettuboa. 


To blow. 


Phoubac, 






Phovihe. 


Roof of the house, Toubana 


ora, 




Debona our. 


Go thy way. 


Bayou boorkaa. 




Bouabouak. 


Eat, 


Baika, 






Bge(Chaldaic). 


To eat. 


Aika, 






Akl(Chaldaic). 


The nose. 


Nichiri, 






Neheri. 


Give me nour- 
ishment. 


' > Natoni boman. 




Natouni bamen. 


The Great 
First Cause, 


I 


Yo hewa 


) 


Jchova. 


Praise the 
First Cause, 


} 


Halleluwah, 


Hallelujah. 


Father, 




Abba, 




Abba. 


Now, 


, 


Na, 




Na. 



XXX 



THE ABORIGINES. 



SEC. I. 



JEnglish. Charibbee. 



Very hot, or 
bitter upon 
me, 

To pray, 

Murderer, 

One who kills 
a wandering 
enemy, 

Canaan, 

Wife, 
Winter, 

God, 

Do. 

Ararat, a high ^ 
mountain, ' 



MoHEGAN, 

Creeks, and Northern Hebrew. 
Languages. 



Heru, hara, 
or hala, 

Phale, 

Abe, 

Noabe, com- 
pounded ot 
Noah and 
Abe, 

Kenaai, 

AVah, 
Kora, 

Ale, 

Innois, 



Hara hara. 

Phalge. 
Abel. 



Canaan. 

EveorEweh. 
Cora. 

Ale,or Alohim. 

lannon. 



The same among the Indians of Penobscot. 



But by far the most elaborate treatise, on this sub- 
ject, has been written by another countryman of ours; 
who has undertaken to prove, that the languages spo- 
ken in both Americas are radically one, and the same 
with those of the various nations, which are known 
by the general name of Tartars.* It was impolitic in 
the author, to regret, that he could not make his 
tables more complete; for it seems to us, that they are 
already so full as to overturn the hypothesis, which 
they were designed to support. That a few plausible 
coincidences have been found, there can be no doubt; 

* Baiiton's New Views of the Originof the Tribes and Nations of 
America. Phil. 1797. 



SEC. I. 



THE ABORIGINES. 



XXXI 



but a mere glance of the eye will be sufficient to con- 
vince the reader, that, for one resemblance, there are 
ten disparities. The Tartar languages appear to have 
a great affinity to each other; but, though the author 
had the whole scope of Asia and America, it is seldom 
that any of their languages can furnish him with a 
parallel. The Indian languages, it is evident, differ 
more from each other than from those of Tartary; and 
the fact has been adduced as one proof, that the na- 
tives of America are of greater antiquity than those 
of Asia. 

This, however, is not the species of refutation, 
which we intend to adopt. We shall construct a list 
from the most perfect resemblances; and leave the 
reader to conclude, from our subsequent observations, 
whether it can have much weight in the decision of 
the controversy. 

American. Tartar. 

Nioh, Noob, 

Kisheh, Koor. 

Otah, Otsah. 

Anna, Anna. 

Namun, Nioma. 

Neesham, Neep. 

Nicanich, Nunaika. 

Weticks, Wasick. 

Weewoon, Newen, 

Kihtuckquaw, Kisseitschak, 



English. 
God, 
Heaven, 
Father, 
Mother, 
Son, 

Daughter, 
Brother, 
Sister, 
Wife, 
Girl, 
Boy, (no parallel). 



XXXll 



THE ABORIGINES. 



SEC. I. 



English. 


American. 


Tartar. 


Child, 


Papoos, 


Poompoo. 


Man, 


Kessona, 


Keesee. 


Head, 


Wihl, 


Olol. 


Nose, 


Peechten, 


Paschee. 


Eye, 


Dessa, 


Dus. 


Ear, 


Pilum, 


Pel. 


Forehead 


, Hackalu, 


Haka. 


Hair, 


Lissy, 


Lossee. 


Mouth, 


Madoon, 


Motoo. 


Tooth, 


Zebet, 


Zeboo. 


Tongue, 


Neelahnee, 


Naileem. 


Beard, 


H el) el in, 


Habbe. 


Fland, 


Enahkec, 


Enape. 


Belly, 


V/achtey, 


Watsee. 


Foot, 


Pi, 


Paa. 


Skin, 


Chcy, 


Cheg. 


Flesh, 


Wijaas, 


Wodge. 


Blood, 


Tagui, 


Toog. 


Heart, 


Micheone, 


Mervane. 


Love, 


Zargay, 


Warge. 


Life, (no 


parallel). 




Death, 


Do. 




Cold, 


Pvoig, 


Rohec. 


Sun, 


Keesis, 


Kitschc. 


Moon, 


Keshessu, 


Kuschtail 


Star, 


Alank, 


Alak. 


Rain, 


Kcnape, 


Kanie. 


Snow, (no parallel). 




Ice, 


Mucquam, 


Milk, 


Day, (no 


parallel). 




Night, 


Do. 





Morning, Do. 



SEC. I. 



THE ABORIGINES. 



XXXllI 



English. 


American. 


Tartar. 


Summer, 


Tome palle, 


Tamomji. 


Winter, 


Lowan, 


Garni . 


Earth or ground. 


Lacta, 


Latta. 


Water, 


Okka, 


OogooD- 


Fire, 


Tata, 


Tat. 


Wood, 


Mahia, 


Madge. 


Dog, 


Kura, 


Koura. 


There, 


Talli, 


Tala. 


I, 


Ni, 


Ne. 



There are a few other resemblances, scattered in 
various authors, which perhaps it would be hardly 
fair to omit. In the Japanese, tonus signifies sun^ 
moon, stars; or governors, kings, princes. The 
Mexicans call the sun tanalicus, and the moon, toiia; 
and, in Hispaniola, the name of taino is given to all 
persons of noble or princely blood. Motazaiuma is 
the general appellation of a Japanese monarch; and 
montezuma performs the same office in Mexico. Gin- 
seng, in both hemispheres, is said to be called by a 
name, which signifies 'the thighs of a man;' and it is 
asserted, that the Mexican teu and tepee, for God and 
a mountain, have the same meaning in the ancient 
Turkish. If, among the Tartars, the names of many 
places end in an, and the names of many princes, 
in ax, the Mexicans have their Teutillaw, Coatta??, 
Hazattau, Petulkm: their Stalderaa*, A\momx, Meu- 
hnx, Naguatr/.r. 

d 



XXXiV THE ABORIGlxNES. SEC. I. 

These, we believe, are all the coincidences of 
language, which can be seriously urged to show, that 
the New^ World was peopled from the Old. The 
mere fact, one would think, that, if such similarities 
have w^eight at all, they prove the American Indians 
to have descended from almost every nation in the 
other hemisphere, must be sufficient to convince the 
theorist, that little trust can be placed in this species 
of induction. But the experience of every day teaches 
us, that so general an answer is not sufficient. Books 
and papers still continue to appear upon the subject; 
and the authors still appear to imagine, that the strength 
of their theories must chielly depend upon the aptness 
of their etymologies. A few have abandoned so un- 
certain a mode of proof; but the rest do not seem to 
consider it as a good example; and, until their own 
particular etymologies are disturbed, by striking at 
the root of the fallacy, each, we fear, will persist in 
thinking the others mistaken, and himself right. 

One of the most fruitful sources of error, is, the 
difference between the idioms of our own languages 
and those of savage nations in general. Civihzation, 
while it augments the vocabulary, is sure to abridge 
the particular words, of a language. As the subjects of 
conversation multiply, the time for each becomes less; 
and, what a savage would have leisure to describe, a 
man in civilized society can only afford to define. 



SEC. r. THE ABORIGINES. XXXV 

The objects of attention are innumerable; each must 
have its separate name; and that name must be brief. 
In the savage state, the occasions of language are not 
numerous; nor need words be cut short for want of 
time. The Indians, while they have but a scanty 
vocabulary, are obliged to carry it all in their own 
heads. Request one to name an object, and he will 
enumerate its uses. The innocent inquirer takes 
down the whole answer as one word; and then smiles 
at the simplicity of an Indian, for using such endless 
appellatives. Thus, a New Zealander, being asked 
what he called a neighbouring inland, answered, Tavi 
poenamono. It was immediately recorded as the name 
of the island; but, when afterwards explained, turned 
out to mean, ^lake and hatchet-stone;' and the truth 
happened to be, that, in this island, there was a lake, 
from which the natives procured stone for their hatch- 
ets.* So kummoglwdonattooUiunmooetUeaonganun- 
nonash is said to be the Indian for our single word, 
• question;'! but there can be no doubt, that, though 
the expression may only amount to this, it is made up 
of more words than one. It is long enough, indeed, 
to contain all the parts of speech; and, by mistaking 
such combinations for single terms, it is impossible to 
calculate the errors, into which etymology may lead us. 
The Indians utter many sounds, for which we have 

* Cook's Voyages. f Matheh's Magnalia, b. iii. p. 193. 



XXXVi THE ABORIGINES. SEC, I. 

110 appropriate letters; and, on the other hand, we have 
many letters, for which they have no correspondent 
sounds. The Cherokees cannot pronounce /; while 
we are obliged to use iv, for sounds, which are more 
like uch, than any other combination in the alphabet.* 
Nor does the evil stop here, Indian words are again 
liable to all the modifications, arising from the idioms 
of the different languages, in which they are express- 
ed; and not only become different, when heard by 
persons of different nations, — but when given by 
individuals of the same nation. Thus the French must 
use oil and que, where we have iv and/i:; — as Ouabash 
and Ouinnipeque, for Wabash and Winnipeck. The 
ears of different men are not alike; and their fancies 
are still farther apart. Captain Cook heard Yucuatl 
for Nootka;f and those tribes, which, in English, are 
Onidoes and Todericks, become Oneyonts and Tate- 
ras, in French. J By passing through different lan- 
guages, or by being frequently repeated in the same 

* Baiit. pp. ix. sllx. 

■f Hujibblt's Polit. Essay, vol ii. p. 256. 
:^ Boudinot's star in the West, p. 99. 

ExsLisH. Fhexch. 

-^ Owinagunges, Abenaguies. 

Maques, Aniez. 

Odistastagheks, Mascoaties. 

Makiliaiuler, Maurigan. 

0tawa\\;as, Outawle's. 

Salanas, Shaononons. 



SEC. I. THE ABORIGINES. XXXVU 

language, a word may lose nearly every letter of its 
original constitution ; and perhaps nothing will sooner 
dishearten an etymologist, than to present him with 
Newton's derivation of Jlrminon: — Menes, Mines, 
Mina^us, Minies, Enephes, Venephes, Phamenophis, 
Osymanthus, Osymandyas, Osiniandas, Isimandas, 
Imandes, Memnon, Arminon. 

These are the mistakes, to which the etymologist 
is liahle, at the outset of his business, — in procuring 
the very materials, upon which his ingenuity is to be 
employed. The process of analysing words, and ex- 
tracting derivations, is attended with still greater 
hazard of deception, and must have still less title to 
confidence. After all the changes have been rung 
upon our alphabet, it is confined to a few elementary 
sounds. The consonants, when left to themselves, 
arc mute; and, however they may be placed, or how 
many soever are employed, the stress of articulation 
must still rest upon the vowel. They may vary the 
sound, by their position, or soften it, by their number; 
but these alterations are so exile and evanescent as 
frequently to escape the most delicate ear; and may 
generally be made, or unmade, at the pleasure of the 
etymologist. Nothing can be constant in a living 
language. By one imperceptible shade of diflerence, 
after anothei*, words are sometimes divested of all their 
first characteristics; and any attempt to tj'ace the pro« 



XXXVm THE ABORIGINES. SEC. I. 

gress of these mutations, will, in most instances, be as 
hopeless, as it would be to think of finding the original 
timbers of the Argonautic ship. In a case, where the 
standard of trial is so variable as the ear, and the things 
to be tried, so fluctuating as sounds, too much confi- 
dence should never be placed in our results. The 
eye, too, is ever ready to see how one syllable or letter 
may be turned into another; and, in so difficult a 
matter, the very ease, with which we are generally 
convinced, ought to give us some distrust in the me- 
thod of proof The clearest evidence should be ex- 
acted at every step; and all etymologies, which depend 
merely upon their own intrinsic reasonableness, have 
just an equal chance of being right, or wrong. 

Authors, again, seldom agree in their etymologies; 
and more especially, if they are pursuing different 
w^alks of literature. Judge Blackstone, Judge Chris- 
tian, and Mr. Chalmers, for instance, have each given 
a different analysis of the word culpnt; and perhaps 
the reader will be perplexed to determine, which of 
the three is the most likely to be correct. The two first 
derive it from the forms of criminal pleading; but 
differ in respect to the words, of which they sumjose 
it to be compounded. 

All pleadings were formerly carried on in Latin. 
When the prisoner was brought to the bar, he an- 
swered the indictment, by saying, non culpahilis, — 



SFX'. r. THE ABORIGINES. XXXlX 

'not guilty;' and this was entered upon the minutes, in 
the abbreviated form of non. cul. The clerk replied 
for the king, cidpabUis; et hoc jyciratiis est venficare: 
— 'He is guilty; and this the king is ready to prove.' 
The reply was set down in the same spirit of abbre- 
viation; and, as prit is often used ^or jmratus, in the 
old books, the entry upon the minutes w'ould be 'cif/. 
prit.' It was the custom to go through these forms in 
as few words as possible; and succeeding clerks would 
very naturally omit all but the two syllables cul. and 
jmt. As it was a mere form, the repetition of the 
words would seldom recall the signification ; and igno- 
rant clei'ks, when the pleadings were afterwards trans- 
acted in English, may have mistaken this entry for the 
technical word, and addressed the prisoner, ' culprit, 
how wilt thou be tried .^'* 

On the other hand. Judge Christian tells us, that, 
after the plea of non culjmhilis, the king's officer 
could only join issue, hy a fecit similiter, or, 'he doth 
the like.' The plea was entered upon the record in 
these words: J\on inde est culpabilis, ct pro bono cl 
malo ponit se super palriam. ' If then,' says he, ' I 
might be allowed to indulge in a conjecture of my own, 
I should think that prit was an easy, corruption of 
pnt. written for pordt, by the clerk, as a minute that 
issue was joined, or ponit se super pcdriam, or pnt se 

* BiACK. Comm. vol. iv. p. 339. 



Xl THE ABORIGINES. SEC. 1/ 

might have been converted into prist, or jyrest, as it is 
sometimes written. CiiL vt^as probably intended to 
denote the plea, and prit the issue; and these syllables 
being pronounced aloud by the clerk, to give the court 
and prisoner an opportunity of hearing the minute, 
and being immediately followed by the question, how 
wilt thou be tried. '^ naturally induced the ignorant 
part of the audience to suppose that cid prit was an 
appellation given to the prisoner. As a confirmation 
of the conjecture, that pret is a corruption o^ prit, the 
clerk of arraigns, at this day, immediately after the ar- 
raignment, writes upon the indictment, over the name 
of the prisoner, puis. And Roger North informs us, 
that, in ancient times, when pleadings in the courts 
were ore ienus, 'if a sergeant in the common pleas 
said judgment, that was a demurrer; ii^ prist, that was 
an issue to the country.'* 

Among lawyers, one of these two derivations is 
likely to be adopted; but, with the rest of mankind, 
perliaps Mr. Chalmers will bear away the palm. ^I 
have somewhere,' says he,f 'seen the French language 

* Christ. Black, Comm. vol. iv. p. 339, note. 

I English Poets, vol. i. p. 680. In confirmation of this remark, perhaps 
we ought in justice to subjoin the derivation, which he quotes, of the word 
coxvardice. ' As to the etymology of the adjective from which this has 
been formed,' says he, • I think the opinion of Twydsden and Somner, 
Gloss, ad X. Script, v. Fridwite, much the most probable; who derive it 
from the Barb. Lat. culum vertere, to turn tail, or run away. See Du Cange, 
in V. Cidvcrtn, and CvlverUigium, who rejects the opinion above mentioned; 



SEC. r. THE ABORIGINES. xU 

seriously charged with indehcacy for its frequent and 
wanton use of the word cul in composition; nor can 
the charge be said to be groundless. Beside the nu- 
merous instances which will occur to every body, I 
suspect that this monosyllable makes part of a com- 
mon and solemn term in our law; imported originally 
from France. Culprist seems to me to have been a 
vulgar name for prisoner; a person taken by that part 
which is most exposed in running away. Holinshed 
has expressed the same idea more delicately. Vol. iii. 
p. 842. 'The prentises were caught hy the hacks and 
had to prison.^ And so it is expressed in the ancient 
Scottish Poems, p. 182, ver. 15. 

' Yet deid (death) sal take him to the bok.' 

All these derivations have the appearance of rea- 
son; and either, if seen by itself, would probably have 
been deemed correct. Many of those, which are 
usually resorted to, in the treatises upon our aboriginal 
population, have not even this circumstance to recom- 
mend them. In former times, for example, the Mo- 
hawks were the terror of all the eastern Indians; and 
no sooner did one make his appearance, than the cry 
of 'Mohawk! Mohawk!' resounded from hill to hill* 

but without suggesting any tiling so plausible. Culvert, as It is written in 
the oldest and best French MS. that I have seen, miglit easily be corrupted 
according to the French mode of pronunciation, into couartand cmarcl' 
* TnrMB. Hist. Conn. vol. i. p. 56. 

e 



Xlii THE ABORIGINES. SEC. 1. 

In the Hebrew, mhliokek signifies 'lawgiver:' but a 
lawgiver is a superior; and, as a superior is dreaded 
by his inferiors, can this name coine from any but a 
Hebrew root?* The etymologists have not been satis- 
fied to trace the origin of Indian names. Even the 
word Virginia has not escaped. ' Some imagine,' 
says an author, ' that its name is derived, that is, Vir- 
gini, from a king, whose name was Vigmna;f though 
it is perfectly well known, tliat Elizabeth bestowed 
the appellation upon this country, for a very different 
reason. 

Both the Hebrews and the Caribbees, we are 
told, gave the name of kaniche to the sugar-cane. 
Now, this is known to have been an eastern plant; 
nor was it introduced into Europe, till the middle of 
the twelfth century. It was first cultivated in Sicily; 
thence transported into the south of Spain ; from Spain 
to the Canary and Madeira islands; and from those 
islands to the New World, about the year fifteen hun- 
dred.| One of two conclusions is, therefore, inevita- 
ble; — either, that this plant has always been accompa- 
nied by its Hebrew appellation; or that the Caribbees 
have, for thousands of years, retained a name for 
which, as there was no object, there could be no use. 

* Boudinot's Slav, p. 104. 

f Hist, of New Sweedland. N. Y. Hist. Coll. vol. ii. p. 354 

^ Rob. Ch. v. Phil. Edit. Vol. i.p. 275. 



SEC. I. THE ABORIGINES. xHu 

Authors have observed, that it is easier to write rhyme, 
than blank verse, in the Hebrew; and can any trust 
be reposed in etymologies from a language, which has 
such a multitude of consonous words? In fine, these 
modes of proof always remind us of the scheme, de- 
vised by Psammiticus, to ascertain which, of all the 
nations on the globe, could claim the distinction of 
being the most ancient. The children, which he shut 
up, for the purpose, uttered the word beccos, when 
first permitted to see their keeper; and, as it was 
found, upon inquiry, that bread was so called by the 
Phrygians, they were pronounced to be the eldest na- 
tion. But becker, in High-Dutch, signifies ' a baker;' 
and Goropus Becanus, therefore, concludes, that the 
Germans, and not the Phrygians, were the first born 
people. Such are the triumphs of etymology! 

Indian traditions, too, seem to us equally unworthy 
of confidence. We learn from some authors, that the 
aborigines came from the east: others tell us, that they 
derive themselves from the west; and, indeed, they 
appear to have come from almost every point of the 
compass, according as each inquirer has set his par- 
ticular theory. Indians, it should be known, look 
upon white men with contempt. They think us a 
paltry race; and, sometimes through malice, but more 
frequently from indifference, will make any answer, 
or tell any story, which first enters their thoughts. 



:div THE ABORIGINES. SEC. I. 

A few leading questions, as Ihey are called, will com- 
monly extract just what is wanted; and perhaps no 
person was ever disappointed, in finding, among the 
various tribes, some traditional corroboration of a 
preconceived hypothesis. They amused one of our 
travellers, for instance, with the story, ' that they ori- 
ginally came from another country, inhabited by 
wicked people, and had traversed a great lake, which 
was narrow, shallow, and full of islands, where they 
had suffered great hardships and much misery, it being 
always winter, with ice and deep snows. At a place 
they called the Coppermine River, where they made 
llie first land, the ground was covered with copper, over 
which a body of earth had since been collected to the 
depth of a man's height. They believe, also, that, in 
ancient times, their ancestors had lived till their feet 
were worn out with walking, and their throats with 
eating. They described a deluge, when the waters 
spread over the whole earth, except the highest moun- 
tain, on the top of which they were preserved."* 

The natives of Cuba are said to have had a still 
more satisfactory account of the flood. They told 
the Spaniards, that an old man foresaw the intention 
of God, to punish the world with a deluge; and, build- 
ing a large canoe, he embarked with his family and a 
great number of animals. As soon as the waters had 

* M'Kensie's Hist, of Ihe Fur Trade, p. 113. 



SEC. I. THE ABORIGINES. Xlv 

subsided, he sent out a raven ; which found carrion, 
and did not return. A pigeon was then let loose; and 
it soon re-appeared with a sprig of hoba. At last the 
ground became dry. The old man quitted his canoe; 
and, making some wine of the wood-grape, drank till 
he was intoxicated, and fell asleep. One of his sons 
mocked him; but the other covered his body; and, 
when he awoke, he blessed the one, and cursed the 
other.* Had this account been more vague and ge- 
neral, we should have been very suspicious of its real 
existence; but, it is presuming much too far upon our 
credulity and prepossession, when travellers expect 
us to believe, that the Indians have preserved, by 
merely oral tradition, the particular details of an 
event, of which w^e should know nothing, had not the 
account been revealed by the Divinity, and recorded 
by Moses. 

If there are such liabilities to deception, in the 
attainment of knowledge from the aborigines, there 
are others, quite as great, in its communication to the 
world. Our language is not fitted for any stale of 
society, or of circumstances, but that, in which it had 
its origin, and has been customarily used. Our names 
stand for objects, — for combinations of ideas, — which 
are seldom found, in nations equally civihzed; and 
perhaps, never, in those, which are savage^ or bar- 

* Clatigf-ko's Hist. Mex 



Xlvi THE ABORIGINES. SEG. I. 

barous. Yet these names are necessarily given to 
analogous objects among the aborigines: persons at 
a distance can only receive the signification, which 
they ordinarily bear among themselves; and, unless 
they are accompanied with the most careful explana- 
tions, — a requisite not always found in books of travels, 
— we can never know the precise things, which they 
were intended to express. Some graves, for example, 
were, not long ago, discovered in the western coun- 
try; and we were told, in the account, that they con- 
tained bodies wrapt in 'linen shirts' and 'twilled 
blankets/ No further description was given of their 
texture; and, though the other furniture of corpses 
evidently proved them to be no Europeans, we are left 
to conclude, that they were enveloped in such linen 
and such blankets as are used by ourselves, in common 
with the people of Europe. 

Errors, from this source, will not only creep into 
the accounts of Indian traditions; but into those, also, 
which are given us, of their institutions, manners, and 
monuments. Even if the latter were correctly ascer- 
tained, and clearly described, there may be room to 
doubt, whether there is a sufficient number of resem- 
blances to warrant the conclusion, which is usually de- 
duced. No person, we believe, has ever undertaken to 
prove, from differences of institution and custom, that 
the Indians are not descended from the nations of the 



SEC. I. THE ABORIGINES. xlvil 

01(1 World; but, if any antiquary should hereafter 
think it worth while to attempt the work, he will be 
able to find twenty dissimilarities, where those, in the 
affirmative, can point out one coincidence. This fact 
has either escaped consideration, or is deemed incon- 
clusive; for, in all the treatises, which continue to ap- 
pear, upon the subject of our aborigines, the similarity 
of their institutions, with those of Asiatics or Europe- 
ans, still constitutes the leading topic of argument. 

The emperors of China are the 'brothers of the 
sun and moon:' the kings of Ceylon are of solar ori- 
gin: the chiefs of the Natchez were called 'suns;' and 
the incas of Peru trace their descent from the same 
luminary. The Peruvians reckon by means of knotted 
cords; and something hke this has been discovered 
in China and Sumatra. The Mexicans rend their 
garments for grief; and so did the Jews. The Kamt- 
schatkians have no beards; neither have the American 
Indians. The scalp of an enemy was the most ho- 
nourable trapping of a Hunnish horse: the Indians 
had no horses;* but they were equally fond of scalps, 

* The natives of Kamtschatka were, also, destitute of this animal ; and the 
fact has been considered as a negative proof of their identity with our 
aborigines. The reason given for the absence of horses in this country, 
on its first discovery, is, that it was too cold for their passage by Behring's 
Straits. 'Si,' asks the author of the £.?««, *le froid etoit trop fort pour 
les chevaux et qu'il les ait fait pcrir dans le transport en Amerique, de 
quelle maniere y sont done vcnus les autres animaux, principalement ceuz 
qu'on netrouve qu'entre les tropiques .?' Yol.i. p. 10. 



Xlviii THE ABORIGINES. SEC. I 

Some tribes of Tartary and of America have a prac- 
tice of suspending dead bodies upon a tree, until their 
bones are dry; and, in Mexico, travellers have found 
pyramids of sculls, like those of Persia and other 
countries. The panther, the buffalo, the bear, the ra- 
coon, are emblems of national sovereignty among the 
Indians. The tribe of Judah was known by the lion; 
that of Dan, by the serpent; that of Issachar, by an ass; 
that of Benjamin, by a wolf Both the Hebrews and 
the Indians reckon time by nights and moons, instead 
of days and suns: both are said to begin their ecclesi- 
astical year with the new moon of the vernal equinox: 
the latter, like the former, have houses of refuge for 
criminals: some of the Indians fast before a war, as 
the Hebrews did; and even the ark of purification has 
been found among the southern tribes. Analogies 
have also been discovered between nearly all the 
Jewish and Indian rehgious ceremonies;* but the re- 
semblances are often so forced, and always so obscure, 
that we think it a waste of time to give them a parti- 
cular enumeration. 

One of the marriage ceremonies in Hindostan, as 
well as Mexico, is, to tie the skirt of the bridegroom's 
gown to that of the bride. The bones of a wolf have 
been found in a Mexican grave; and did not the 
Egyptians pay equal honours to many other animals.^ 

* BouBiNOT, ch. vii. 



Sec. r. the aborigines. xlix 

Egypt is not the only country, in which pyramids have 
been erected. Similar structures exist in Mexico, 
and in the islands of the Pacific: — nay, the mounds 
along the Mississippi are said to be formed upon the 
same general plan. Nor is it in Egypt alone, that 
collosal statues of stone have been discovered. There 
are monuments of the same kind in Peru, as well as 
in the Pacific Archipelago; and it is remarkable how 
nearly those in the latter coincide with those in the 
former. 

In the Peruvian city of Tiahuanac, there arc, it 
is said, two giants cut from stone, with bonnets upon 
their heads, and garments, which reach to the ground. 
' We remark, besides these,' says a native commen- 
tator, '^ a very long wall, the stones of which are so 
great, that one is at a loss to conceive how they could 
have been transported by the hands of men ; and there 
is not, in the neighbourhood, any quarry from which 
such enormous masses could have been taken. In 
other places, there is a number of extraordinary build- 
ings, with doors cut out of a single rock; and, what 
seems to be still more remarkable, they are some of 
them based upon single stones, thirty feet long, fifteen 
broad, and six deep.'* 

From the following account of similar statues in 
the Pacific, the reader will observe, that what are 

* Garcihasso de la Vega, torn. i. pp. 21, 22, 23. 4to clit, 

/ 



I THE ABORIGINES. SEC. I. 

here taken for single stones, may be composed of 
several: 'These statues, or at least many of them, are 
erected on platforms, which serve as foundations; the 
workmanship of them is rude, but not bad, nor are the 
features of the face ill formed, the nose and chin in 
particular, but the ears long beyond proportion, and 
as to the bodies, there is hardly any thing like a hu- 
man figure about them. The platforms, upon which 
these gigantic statues are raised, are of mason work, 
and some of them are thirty or forty feet long, twelve 
or sixteen broad, and from three to twelve in height. 
They are built, or rather faced, with stones of a very 
large size,' and the workmanship is not inferior to the 
best plain piece of masonry we have in England. 
They use no sort of cement; yet the joints are exceed- 
ingly close, and the stones morticed and tenanted one 
to another in a very artful manner. We could hardly 
conceive how these islanders, wholly unacquainted 
. with any mechanical power, could raise such stupen- 
dous figures, and afterwards place the large cylindrical 
stones (bonnets) upon their heads.'* 

There is one species of proof, to which authors 
and travellers have not sufficiently turned their atten- 
tion. It has been observed, that nations preserve 
no parts of their economy, with so much exactness, 
as their games, sports, and amusements. Being daily 

w 

* Cook's Voyages, vol. i, p. 294. 



SEC. I. THE ABORIGINES. U 

repeated, they can seldom be forgotten; and, as they 
are chiefly confined to the young, they have the best 
chance of making a permanent impression. Some- 
thing hke chess has been found both in Chili and 
Hindostan; but, if there are any other instances of 
similarity between the natives of the two hemispheres, 
they have either escaped our research, or have never 
been discovered. Perhaps the catalogue of savage 
amusements is rather limited; and there is one, at 
least, among the Tungusians of Asia, which, as it is 
hardly of a kind to be perpetuated, has not, we believe, 
been found in America. ' When they are inclined 
to divert themselves together,^ we are told, ' they form 
themselves into a ring; and one of them stands in the 
middle, having a long staff in his hand, with which, 
in turning around, he strikes at the legs of one of the 
company, who so nimbly lifts it up, and so dexterously 
avoids the blow, that it is very seldom that any is hit; 
but if any is touched, he is ducked till he is all over 
wet.'* 

We believe, we have now mentioned the most pointed 
resemblances between the nations of the Old and New 
Worlds; and, if they are stated in rather a desultory 
manner, it must be remembered, that, where there is 
$0 much variety, there can be little order. The reader 
must again be warned against too implicit a reliance 
upon the argument from sitpilarities. Of the various 

* Hahbis' Voyages, vol. i. p. 929, 



iii THE ABORIGINES. SEC. L 

customs, which are said to reflect each other, some 
have only heen observed in the outhne, and filled up 
by conjecture; while others, which may have been 
thoroughly ascertained, often differ in ten particulars, 
where they coincide in one. Travellers always know 
too much. Not content with merely recording what 
they see, they surmise its causes or its ends; and, if 
by some fortuitous association, what they see, in one 
place, brings to mind what has been seen, in another, 
a icw points of obscure resemblance must support the 
hasty inference of total similarity. Thus, in our first 
account of tobacco and its uses, the Indians are said 
to suck at the stem of the pipe, until their bodies get 
so full of smoke, that it puffs out from the mouth and 
nostrils;* and, because the smoke, in its ascent, curls 
like incense from an altar, a subsequent writer thinks 
the coincidence sufficient to prove the derivation of 
tobacco smoking from a well known ceremony of the 
Jewish ritual.f 

• Hack. Voy. vol. iii. p. 224. Carter's Second Voyage. 1535. ' There 
groweth also a certain kind of herbe, whereof in sommer they make great 
provision for p.ll the year, making great account of it, and only men use of 
it, and first they cause it to be dried in the sun, then wear it about their 
necks, wrapped in a little beast's skin made like a little bag, with a hollow 
piece ofwood like a pipe : then when they please they make powder of it, 
then put it in one of the ends of the said cornet or pipe, and laying a coal 
of fire upon it, at the other end sucking so long, thut they fill their bodies 
full of smoke, till that it cometh out of their mouth and nostrils, even as 
out of the tunnel of a chimney.' 

I BouBiNOT, pp. 173, 174. 



SEC. I. THE ABORIQINES. lui 

A group of pyramids, again, have been discovered 
in Mexico; and, though the natives have a tradition, 
that they were erected in honour of the sun, an emi- 
nent traveller says, ' it appears certain, however, that 
they served as burying places for the chiefs of tribes.'* 
The inference was deduced from the supposition, that 
the pyramids of Egypt were designed for the same 
purpose; and that supposition has recently suffered a 
shock of improbability, which it will not soon recover. 
After much expense of time and labour, one of the 
largest structures was penetrated to the base. In a 
central chamber, the traveller found a tomb; and, in 
the tomb, a bone. The precious relick was trans- 
ported to England; and, after puzzling the anatomists, 
for a considerable time, could, at last, be assigned to 
no animal but a cow. 

We have mentioned one particular, in which the 
nuptials of the Hindoos correspond with those of the 
Mexicans. We might enumerate many, in the Hin- 
doo ceremony, which arc not in the Mexican; and 
as many, in the Mexican, which are not in the Hin- 
doo. In Mexico, for instance, the bridegroom does 
not go in procession to the house of the bride's father: 
the couple are not there bound together with gi'ass: the 
bridegroom does not clothe the bride with the wed- 
ding garments; nor make oblations to fire, upon which 

* Hcmbolt's roHt. Essay, vol ii. p. 44. 



liv THE ABORIGINES. SEC. I. 

the bride drops rice; nor, in the evening, delicately 
suggest the value of constancy, by pointing at the 
pole star. Among the Hindoos, on the other hand, 
the young man's oldest female relations do not visit 
the parents of the girl at midnight: he is not infallibly 
rejected at the iirst suit: elderly women are not, at 
last, deputed to communicate the assent of the girl's 
father and mother: the bride is not conducted to the 
house of her father-in-law: the married couple do not, 
at the feast, give mouthfuls to each other; neither do 
they remain, fasting and praying, for four days, in the 
nuptial chamber. 

Writers, who attempt to deduce one nation from 
another, by similarities of political or social institu- 
tion, are not only prone to forget those customs, 
which distinguish the one from the other; but to 
overlook those particulars of difference, which are 
often found in customs partially coincident. Our 
objection, however, is not so much to the fidelity of 
their statements, as to the logic of their conclusions. 
Granting every i'act, which they suppose to be ascer- 
tained, we are yet so blind, or so bigotted, as not to 
see, that such data can sufficiently warrant any in- 
ference, either for or against their hypotheses. We do 
not believe it possible to trace the origin of any people 
merely by a similarity of customs. 'The barbarous 
nations, which overran Europe,' says an eminent his- 



SEC. I. THE ABORIGINES. Iv 

torian, 'settled in their new territories at different 
times; came from different countries; spoke various 
languages; and were under the command of separate 
leaders.'* Different sets of these heterogeneous clans, 
at length, became assimilated, and grew into distinct 
nations; which, though they must retain some traces 
of their elementary constituents, are yet as different 
from any one original member, as they are from each 
other. These facts we learn from the records of his- 
tory: but, were we destitute of such lights, and left to 
grope our way by the frail and mutable indicia of 
coincident manners, should we have ever detected the 
Goths and Vandals of the dark ages in the people of 
modern France, or modern Italy .^ Should we have 
ever known, indeed, that such nations as the Goths 
and Vandals once existed in the qfficina gentium, and 
afterwards, if we may so express ourselves, surround- 
ed and took the Roman empire ?f 

* IloB.Ch. V. vol.i.p. 10. 

f A great anulogy still subsists in the languages of tlie European na- 
tions; but nothing of this kind has been discovered among our aborigines. 
'Imperfect as is our knowledge of the tongues spoken in America,' says 
Mr. Jefierson, ' it suffices to discover the remarkable fact, that, arranging 
them under the radical ones to which they may be palpably traced, ajid 
doing the same by the red men of Asia, there will be found probably 
twenty in America, for one in Asia, of those radical languages, so called, 
because, if they were ever the same, they have lost all resemblance to one 
another. A separation into dialects may be the work of a few ages only ; 
but for two dialects to recede from one another, till they have lost ail ves- 
tiges of their common origin, must require an immense course of time ; 



Ivi THE ABORIGINES. SEC. L 

There can be no doubt, we think, that the coin- 
cidences, which have been discovered, between the 
natives of the two hemispheres, estabhsh the identity 
of the human race; — not, however, by showing, that 
those of the one are descended from those of the 
other; but by proving, that both are descended from 
a common stock; are endowed with the same attri- 
butes; and will act in the same manner, under similar 
circumstances. Barbarism and civilization must mean 
essentially the same things, at all times and in all 
places; and, if the extremes are ahke, there can be 
no material difference in the intermediate terms. 
Were two nations created at the same time, and 
placed on opposite sides of the globe, we should na- 
turally expect, from the similarity of their constituent 
principles, that their advances to civilization would 
be parallel, at least, if the lines did not occasionally 
run into each other. Their habits and institutions 
must necessarily be modified by many differences of 
circumstance; but the progress of each must, at its 
several steps, bear the marks of coincident improve- 
ment. We have evidence enough to conclude, that 
the same emotions must be manifested in similar 
modes; that similar wants must require the same sup- 
perhaps not less than many people give to the age of the earth. A greater 
number of those radical changes of language having taken place among 
the red men of America, proves them of greater antiquity than those of 
Asia.' Jeff. Notes, Quer. xi. 



SjEC. t. THE ABORIGINES. IVJi 

plies; that similar tastes must be gratified in the same 
manner; that, in short, similar states of society must 
produce habits and institutions, which, in their great 
outlines, have a resemblance to each other. 

There are even many things common to us and 
the lower animals. We have never known either 
man or beast to adopt but one course, when struck 
with violent fear: — they uniformly run. Anger is 
generally accompanied by a disposition to revenge; 
and always vents itself upon the object, which occa- 
sions it, or upon the first thing, which it encounters. 
The miss chastises her perverse doll; and the grown 
person dashes his obstinate boot across the room. 
Grief, too, when excessive, is generally attended with 
a species of resentment; and, if the Mexicans, like the 
Jews, are found to rend their garments, in violent 
lamentation, it does not prove that the Mexicans are 
descended from the Jews, — but that both Jews and 
Mexicans are descended from Adam. The whole 
living creation, so far as they have any attributes in 
common, are observed to be affected in a similar man- 
ner by the same things; and, if man leaves other ani- 
mals behind, in the race of improvement, it is only 
because his capacities are more numerous, and his 
nature more noble. The development of faculties 
peculiar to himself, must, one would suppose, be re- 
gulated by the same principles as that of those, which 



IVjii THE ABORIGINES. SEC. I, 

he shares with meaner animals; and no accidental 
differences of situation can so vary or disguise the 
results as completely to destroy the evidence of iden- 
tical constitution. 

This remark may appear too metaphysical; but it 
is the only one, we think, which the facts sufficiently 
authorize us to make; and, perhaps, the consideration 
of a few examples will show, that it is neither hasty, 
nor fanciful. In Mexico and Hindostan, as we have 
seen, the garments of the bride and bridegroom are 
tied together, in token of union. What is a reality, 
among nations still somewhat rude, becomes a meta- 
phor with such as are more civilized; and, accord- 
ingly, in most countries of modern Europe, we believe, 
the knot is a figurative expression for marriage. Some 
nations in America, as well as in North Asia, are ob- 
served to build their houses by making a conical stack 
of rude poles. This is architecture in its most simple 
elements; and the fact does not prove,^ that the Ame- 
ricans have learnt it from the Asiatics; but that men, 
in their savage state, will devise the same means of 
protecting themselves from the weather. 

There are similarities of custom between nations, 
which no person can suppose to have been originally 
the same. The Patagons, for example, are by no 
means likely to have been a branch of the Arabs; and 
yet, like the Arabs, they have the custom of throwing 



3EC. I. THE ABORIGINES. Wlf. 

sand into the air, upon the appearance of strangers.* 
Neither can it be seriously pretended, that the ancient 
inhabitants of Britain were ever the same people with 
our aborigines: yet the Druids, like some tribes of In- 
dians, computed time by moons and nights, instead of 
suns and days;t and, if the Highland clans are mus- 
tered by presenting the bloody cross, the Cherokees call 
their warriors together, by circulating the painted to- 
mahawk. Almost all savage nations have been known 
to daub themselves with paint; to devolve all work 
upon females; to place all virtue in strength and cou- 
rage; to employ bows and arrows in fighting; and to 
think nothing conquest, which is not extermination. 
The most distant races have some parallel institutions; 
and we remember to have observed the same custom 
among the Highlanders of Scotland and the natives 
of Central Asia. 

Nor are these resemblances found among savage 
nations alone. In our speculations concerning man- 
kind, we refer many things to chance, which subse- 
quent information, or sounder views, will trace to the 
natural progress of the human mind. The invention 
of printing, once admired as the creature of accident, 
is now seen to have been the necessary offspring of 

* Harbis' Voy. vol. i. p. 8.— Rilei's Narrative of the wreck of the brig 
Commerce, 1st edit. p. 27. 

t Hex. Hist, of Eng-. 4to edit. vol. i. p. 256, 



IX THE ABORIGINES. SEC. I. 

particular circumstances;* and, so predestined a step 
is it, indeed, in the march of civiHzation, that, what- 
ever credit we may give to Coster, or Geinsfleich, or 
Faust, the Chinese could boast of the same invention 
more than eight hundred years before these men were 
born.f Gunpowder is another improvement, which 
we have attributed to chance. Now, the earliest in- 
venter of such a composition, in Europe, was Roger 
Bacon,| who flourished in the thirteenth century: it was 
not until the sixteenth, that the invention was publish- 
ed and used; and we are told, that both gunpowder 
and bombs were both common in China, a hundred 
years before they were known in Europe,§ The first 
of these inventions, at least, could not have been made 
common by imitation: the other was probably original 
in both countries; and yet these are, perhaps, the last 
things, which we should attribute to the natural pro- 
gress of society. 

Those who derive our aborigines from the nations 
of the other hemisphere, speak with some triumph 
upon the subject of mounds, temples, and pyramids. 
Such things have been found in all parts of the globe; 
and, while those of the New World are traced to those 
of the Old, a connexion is discovered between the 

* SisMONDi Lit. Du Mid. t. ii. pp. 24-28. 

■}• GiBB. Horn. Emp. 8vo. edit. Lond. vol. vii. p. 94. 

^ Hen. Hist. Eng. 4to. vol. iv. p. 439. 

§ GiBB. Rom. Emp. vol. vi. p. 123. 



SEC. I. THE ABORIGINES. Ixi 

shapeless piles of some Atlantic states, the more re- 
gular tumuli of the Mississippi, and the perfect pyra- 
mids of Mexico. What others take for proof of 
derivative knowledge, we consider as the mere evi- 
dence of similar constitution; — those principles of 
architecture, which our predecessors suppose man- 
kind to have learned at the Tower of Babel, and to 
have retained since their dispersion, we trace to those 
immutable laws of the human mind, which, while they 
direct the species to similar objects, lead them to 
adopt the same modes of accomplishment. We do 
not carry our philosophy so far as to think, for in- 
stance, that commerce had its origin in a ' propensity 
in human nature to truck and barter;' or that the 
extraordinary price, which we pay for certain com- 
modities, is occasioned by ' the esteem, which men 
have for dexterity and ingenuity:'* But that the ac- 
knowledged principles, which enter into the compo- 
sition of our race, should prompt men to take similar 
courses for the attainment of similar ends, does not 
appear to us so violent a conclusion, as that of sup- 
posing mankind to have retained, by tradition, certain 
notions of architecture, which they got from a tower, 
erected more than four thousand years ago. 

Perhaps it would be idle to think of tracing the 
progress of monuments from their rudest to their most 

* SiriTii's "Wealth of Nat. b. i. chh. ii. vl 



Ixii THE ABORIGINES. SEC. I. 

perfect state. Though we may have reason and ex- 
perience sufficient to draw the general conclusion, 
that similar occasions will produce a similarity of con- 
duct, we are not yet so much enlightened as to ana- 
lyse the motives of men, and explain each particular 
step, by which they severally arrive at the same re- 
sult. Without such data as, either in kind or number, 
are calculated to afford us much support, we deceive 
ourselves with false analogies; are betrayed into in- 
ferences, which the facts do not warrant; and tempted 
to supply the gaps of knowledge by the suggestions of 
imagination. If, therefore, we make an attempt to 
throw some light upon the history of pyramids, the 
reader is not to suppose, that we have satisfied our- 
selves, — much less, that we expect to satisfy him. 

There is no notion so universal, among mankind, 
as that of supposing themselves to have been created 
of earth. Many tribes of American Indians are known 
to believe, that they came out of the ground: the early 
Athenians wore golden grasshoppers in their hair, as 
an emblem of their terrestrial origin;* and, when 
Xenophon's Cyrus came to die, he said to his sons, 
' Do not enclose my body in gold, or in silver, or in 
any such thing: but put it in the ground as speedily as 
possible. What can be a greater blessing than to be 
mixed with that earth, which brings forth and nour- 

" Tarcir, Hist. I J .— -Anc. Un. Hist. vo]. vi. art. Athexians. 



SEC. I. THE ABORIGINES. IxUl 

ishes every thing, that is either beautiful or beneficial? 
I have been a philanthropist in all other respects; and 
nothing can better please me, now, than to share the 
common lot of all good men.'* The custom of min- 
gling dead bodies with earth, is common to our whole 
race. The most obvious mode of effecting the object 
is, not by digging graves, — to which the skill and in- 
struments of a savage are unequal; but by placing the 
body upon the ground, and covering it with such loose 
earth and stones as can be readily procured. 

Another natural propensity of the mind has given 
rise to the general custom of burying the dead in the 
neighbourhood of each other; and more particularly, 
when they have died by the same pestilence, or in the 
same battle. A number of corpses, buried by the side 
of each other, in the mode just alluded to, must, of 
itself, make something of a mound; and, when in- 
creased by additional layers, would ultimately rise 
to such a tumulus as may be seen among every bar- 
barous nation. Nor is this altogether a fancy. We 
know, that some Indians are in the habit of collecting 
the bones of those who have fallen in battle, to depo- 
sit them 'in their friendly magazines of mortality;'! 
and by penetrating one of the mounds, which formerly 
existed in Virginia, it has been discovered, that, on a 
level with the circumjacent plain, there was a stratum 

* Xf.v. Cyrop. 1, viii. | At> ur's Hist, of the Amcr. Ind, 



IxiV THE ABORIGINES. SEC. I. 

of bones, covered with stones and earth; which was 
succeeded by ' another stratum of bones, and so on.'* 

The mound once erected, we should be sorry 
theorists, if we could find no use for it. And perhaps 
the most obvious, is that of religious worship. The 
solemnity of the tomb would be apt to suggest such a 
purpose; and the idea, which savages have been known 
to entertain of the Great Spirit, would render the top 
of a mound the fit place to proffer their devotions. 
The ancient Germans supposed, that any attempt to 
circumscribe the presence of Deity, was an impious 
profanation: his only temple, in their view, was the 
universe; and, whenever an edifice, erected for his 
worship, fell into their hands, they never failed to rase 
it to the ground-! The emotions, which w^e expe- 
rience, on the summit of any high place, are con- 
genial with such ideas of divinity; and, that we may 
not want facts to support us at every step, we are as- 
sured, that altars were anciently erected on mounds,j 
and that the Mexicans perform their religious rites 
upon the top of the Great Temple, of which our tu- 
muli are supposed to be the elementary models.§ 

We might even attempt to account for the fact, 
that this Great Temple is composed of five distinct 

• Jeff. Notes. Quer. xi. 

fRoB. Ch, V. vol.i. p. 213. 

^ Butast's Analysis of Anc. Mythology. 

^Clu'ig. Hist. Mex. — IIcjib. Rcsc.irch, 



SEC. r. THE ABORIGINES. Ix? 

parts or stories, decreasing in regular progression, 
from the lowest to the highest. In the erection of a 
mound, the consistence of the pile, as well as the fa- 
cility of ascent, would require, that each succeeding 
stratum should be less than that on which it is laid; 
and thus, what is considered as sufficiently mysterious 
to demand an appeal to the temple of Belus, or the 
Tower of Babel, may have been the natural result of 
necessity and convenience. From the temple, we 
may easily pass to tlie pyramid. Indeed, the temple 
itself is but a truncated pyramid; and, as the same 
symbols of worship have been found on the summits 
of both, there is no occasion of wonder, iii deriving 
the one from the other. 

These successive improvements were not the off- 
spring of stationary barbarism: they are the evidences 
of improvement in society itself; and perhaps, indeed, 
the progress of a nation, from rudeness to refinement, 
may be traced, step by step, from the amorphous hil- 
lock to the finished pyramid. The same peace, which, 
by inspiring security, induces us to construct edifices 
of durable materials, brings with it a taste for luxury, 
and adds to the disposition of making things perma- 
nent, the desire of rendering them beautiful. First,' we 
have a shapeless barrow of earth and stones; next, a 
more regular pile of loose stones alone; then, a still 

h 



Ixvi THE ABORIGINES. SEC. I. 

more perfect structure of stones, fitted to each other 
by the hand of art; — a temple, of stones squared and 
cemented together; and, lastly, the temple elongated 
to a pyramid. Structures, in all these states, have 
been found in various parts of the globe; and the most 
striking analogies are sometimes discovered between 
the earthy mounds and the stone pyramids. 

On a plain, near St. Louis, there is, we are' told, 
*a group of mounds, mostly of a circular shape, and, 
at a distance, resembling enormous hay cocks, scat- 
tered in a meadow.^ One of the largest is, at the 
bottom, about two hundred paces in circumference: 
the form is square; and the top level. From this, 
may be seen ' twenty other mounds or pyramids, be- 
sides a great number of small artificial elevations;' 
which are all disposed in a semicircle of about a mile 
in extent.* 'It is remarkable,' say another traveller, 
' (especially if we call to mind the assertions of Po- 
cocke, as to the symmetrical position of the lesser 
pyramids of Egypt,) that, around the temples of 
the sun and moon at Theotihuacan, (in Mexico,) 
we find a group, I may say a system of pyramids, of 
scarcely nine or ten metres, (twenty-nine or thirty 
feel). These monuments, of which there are several 
hundreds, are disposed in very 4arge streets, which 
follow exactly the direction of the parallels, and of the 

* Bbackesridoe's Views of Louisiana, p. 173. 



SEC. I. THE ABORIGINES. IxVU 

meridians, and wiiicli terminate in the fom' faces of^ 
the two great pyramids.'* 

These coincidences are, at first, sufficiently won- 
derful; and wonder is apt to take refuge in the first 
conclusion, which presents itself Men are formed 
for society; and, being endowed with reason, do many 
things by concert, which the lower animals, guided 
only by instinct, must perform individually. Instinct, 
so far as it goes, is, perhaps, a more steady guide than 
reason. But we know not, why the results of the one 
should appear more marvellous than those of the 
other; and, while philosophers are exclaiming upon 
the analogies between the monuments of the Old and 
New Worlds,! we would ask them to explain the 
simple fact, that the birds of the other hemisphere 
construct their nests in precisely the same manner 
with the birds of this? 

If, then, there be any truth in the foregoing ob- 
servations, the coincidences which have been discov- 
ered between the inhabitants of the two worlds, 
neither prove that they are, — nor, that they are not, 
— branches of the same national stock; and, until the 
question is decided by some new topic of evidence, 

* HcMB. Polit. Essay, vol ii. p. 44. 

f Ibid. ' What analogies with the monuments of the old continent ! — 
and this people, who, on arriving in the seventh century on the Mexican 
soil, constructed on an uniform plan, several of those colossal monuments, 
and truncated pyramids divided by layers, like the temple of Belus or 
Babylon :— Whence did they take the model of these edifices." 



lixviii THE ABORIGINES. SEC. I- 

^r some indubitable statement of history, either sacrecl 
or profane^ we shall continue to think, that authors 
have not yet detected the origin of our aborigines. 
What profane history may hereafter come to light, 
we know not; and, though the scriptural is sufficiently 
familiar, our'ignorance of the original language, and 
slender skill in theology, forbid us to attempt an in- 
terpretation of its words. That Moses knew, little of 
astronomy, perhaps no person will think it worth while 
to deny; and, that he might, in like manner, have been 
ignorant of the New World, there may be equal rea- 
son to conclude. Yet this is a mystery, which may 
never be unravelled ; and, if any new light is to be 
thrown upon the subject, w6 must expect it from 
other sources. 

One of our own philosophers has suggested an 
organ of proof, which, notwithstanding what we have 
said, upon the inconclusiveness of etymologies, may 
still be entitled to consideration. ' Language,' he says, 
*is the best proof of the affinity of nations;' and, 'were 
vocabularies formed of all the languages spoken in 
North and South America, preserving their appella- 
tions of the most common objects in nature, of those 
which must be present to every nation, barbarous or 
civilized, with the inflections of their nouns and verjbs, 
their principles of regimen and concord, and these 
deposited in all the public libraries, it would furnish 
opportunities to those skilled in the languages of the 



SEC. J. THE ABORIGINES. Ixl^ 

world, to compare with these, now, or at any future 
time, and hence to construct the best evidence of the 
derivation of this part of the human race.* 

Were it possible to achieve so vast a work, — 
could vocabularies and grammars be carefully formed 
of all the American tongues, and persons be found 
sufficiently skilful in all the dead and hving languages 
of the Old World, to make such a comparison as is 
here recommended, — the result might decide the ques- 
tion, in one way or the other. It would, however, 
require a very formidable catalogue of similar words 
to convince us, that the languages of this continent 
were derived from those of the other; and no analogies 
of regimen, concord, or inflection, could, in our opi- 
nion, have much weight in the scale. Philosophical 
grammar is equally applicable to all languages. It 
would, indeed, be almost an absurdity, in terms, to 
say, that two tongues may be formed upon principles, 
which materially differ from each other. Agreement, 
regimen, and inflection, are as essential to language, 
as cords and weights to a pully; and, though the modes 
of arrangement may, in both cases, be considerably 
varied, the principles must always remain the same. 
It would be illiberal to prejudge the efficacy of the 
suggested experiment; but it appears to us, tliat the 
prospect of discovery is hardly sufficient to counter- 
balance the difficulty of the enterprise. 

' JiSTF, Notes. Qner. xi. 



fxX THE ABORIGINES. 



SEC. II. 



SECTION II. 



Doubtful History. — Whether the United Stales have been hiha- 
bited by two distinct Races of Indians?— Verazan's Voyage 
— De Soto's Expedition — Riband's — Laudoniere's — Differ- 
ences between the former and present Indians — Statement 
of the Reasons for and against the Supposition of two distinct 
Races. 



It is a relief to escape from the dark and thorny 
questions, with which we have hitherto perplexed 
ourselves; even though we can only fly to such as are 
still involved in considerable obscurity. Some authors 
have supposed, that the territory, which now belongs 
to the United States, was originally inhabited by a 
half civilized people, W'ho have been exterminated by 
the savages; and it must be confessed, that the differ- 
ences, which may be found, between the aborigines of 
iifteen hundred and those of the present day, either 
prove, that the first were a distinct race from the last, 
— or that, if the last are the posterity of the first, they 
have suffered a process of 'degeneration, almost un- 
exampled in the history of mankind. 

Our earliest accounts of the aborigines are de- 
rived from the voyage of Verazan, and the travels 



SEC. II. THE ABORIGINES. Ixxi 

of De Soto; the first of which was set on foot by the 
French, in 1524; and the last, by the Spanish, 1538. 
Verazan started in the beginning of 1524; and, about 
the middle of March, touched the American continent, 
near the twenty-eighth degree of north latitude.* His 
first sight was a ' great store of people;' '^many of them 
well favoured, having black and great eyes, with a 
cheerful and steady look, not strong of body, yet 
sharp-witted, nimble, and exceeding great runners.'f 
Sailing to the north, he every where discovered ' mul- 
titudes of inhabitants;' and he generally uses the same 
language in the description of their appearance and 
character: — they were 'of mean (middle) stature, 
handsome visage, and delicate limbs, and of very little 
strength, but of prompt vvit.'| In one place, he finds 
them *^ courteous and gentle;' and, in another, 'of sweet 
and pleasant countenance, imitating much the old 
fashion.' 'The women,' he says, ' were very hand- 
some and well favoured, of pleasant countenance, and 
comely to behold;' ' as well mannered and continent 
as any women, and of good education. '§ The men, 
moreover, were 'very jealous' of tlieir-wives; and would 
never suffer them to come within two hundred paces 
of the shore. II 

* Hacklutt's Voyages, vol. iii. p. 295. f Ibid. p. 296. 

Ibid.p. 29r. Hbid. p.298. !| Ibid. p. 299. 



Ixxii THE ABORIGINES. SEC. IJ, 

A traveller of the present day would find scarcely 
any of these traits in the character of our Indians. 
They are by no means remarkable for sweetness of 
countenance, delicacy of limbs, or gentleness of man- 
ners. They are a tall, muscular, fierce looking peo- 
ple; who put all their drudgery upon their squaws; 
and, holding them in little estimation, never think it 
worth while to guard against their infidelity. Jealousy, 
indeed, is the offspring of civilization. When men 
begin to have some pleasures besides war and the 
chase, and other standards of excellence than strength 
and courage, female virtue finds its proper level, and 
women, from servants, become wives.' 

Nor are these the only particulars, in which the 
accounts of a modern traveller would differ from those 
of Verazan. The natives, according to the latter, were, 
in part, an agricultural people. Their principal food 
consisted of beans and corn; though, for a change, 
they occasionally took beasts, birds, and fish.* They 
prepared the ground, by digging it up with a sort of 
wooden spade; and ' observed in their sowing,^ we are 
told, ' the course of the moon and the rising of certain 
stars.'! They even might be said to cultivate the vine. 
'Having oftentimes seen the fruit thereof dried,' says 

* Hacklutt's Voyages, vol. iii. p. 290. According to Laudoniere, their 
hunting months were January, February, and March. Ibid. p. 341. 

t Ibid. pp. 224. 299. 



SEC. II. THE ABORiaiNES. IxXli'l 

Verazan, 'which was sweet and pleasant, and not 
differing from ours, we think that they esteem the 
same, because that in every place where they grow, 
they take away the under branches growing round 
about, that tlie fruit thereof may ripen the better.* 

This navigator followed nearly the whole coast 
of the present United States 5 but he stayed at no place 
long enough to explore the interior; and his accounts 
of the natives are necessarily brief and imperfect. 
De Soto, on the contrary, spent more than four years 
in making a progress through his dominions, as pre- 
sident of Florida;! and the history of his enterprise 
contains, perhaps, the only notices, in any detail, of 
the character, habits, and general economy of the 
earlier aborigines.| The book appears to be little 

* Hacklutt's Voyages, vol. iii. p. 297. 

f Tliis name, — derived from Pascli.a Florida, or Palm-Sunday, because 
the land was discovered on that day, — then included an indefinite extent 
of territory, north and west of the present Floridas. Hack. vol. iii. p. ^05. 

\ We have never seen tliis iiook in the original; and we have heard, 
that no great pains were taken to make it generally known. In 1609, 
when the English began to think of planting colonies here, Hackluyt pro- 
cured a copy, and turned it into English, under the title of ' Virginia richly 
valued, by the description of the maine land ofFlorida,hernext neighbour: 
out of the four yeeres continuall travell and discouerie for above one 
thousand miles east and west, of Don Ferdinando De Soto, and six hun- 
dred able men in his companie. Wherein are truly observed the riches 
and fertilitie of those parts, abounding with things necessarie, pleasant, 
and profitable for the life of man : with the natures and dispositions of the 
inhabitants. Written by a Portugall gentleman of Eluas, emploied in all" 

% 



Ixxiv THE ABORIGINES. SEC. II. 

known in this country; and we shall exhibit its con- 
tents to the reader, by following the course of the ex- 
pedition. 

Ferdinand De Soto was the son of a squire of 
Xerez, near Bajadoz, in Spain. He adventured to 
the West Indies, as a soldier of fortune, under Gover- 
nor Arias; who soon rewarded his courage, by giving 
him a troop of horse; and still further promoted his 
views, by assigning him a post under Pizarro. As 
he displayed more gallantry than the other captains, 
he obtained a greater portion of the booty ; and, when 
he returned to Spain, he had exchanged his sword and 
target for one hundred and eighty thousand ducats. 
He married Donna Isabella, the daughter of Arias; 
and the emperor made him governor of Cuba, presi- 
dent of Florida, and marquis of a part of the lands, 
which he might conquer. He was. joined by many 
rich persons from various parts of Spain: six hundred 
men were disposed in seven ships; and, in the month 
of April, 1538, the expedition left the harbour of 
Seville. 

On Whit-Sunday, they reached Cuba. St. Jago, 
Baragoa, Bayamo, Puerto de Principes, St. Esperito, 
and Havanna, were then the only towns in the island; 
and the first, which now contains forty thousand in- 

tlie action, and translated out of the Portugese by Richard HACKLUtT. 
Lond. Felix Kyngstan for Mathew Lownes.' SmalHto, p. 180. 



SEC. II. THE ABORIGINES. IxXV 

habitants, was a village of eighty houses, composed, 
for the most part, of boards and thatch. Among the 
other native productions, we find 'a fruit, whereby 
many people are sustained, and chiefly the slaves, 
which are called batatas. These grow now in the 
island of Ter9era, belonging to the kingdom of Por- 
tugal, and they grow within the earth, and are like a 
fruit called iname; they have almost the taste of the 
chesnut.'* . 

* We have been tluis particular in copying; this ilescription, becauae, 
in the systematic hostility, which some English journals pursue, to every 
thing American, it has recently been suggested, in the shape of a wonder, 
that the New World was not the original country of tlie potatoe. ' It is a 
singular fact,' we are told, 'that, in all the extent of territory traversed by- 
Messrs. Humbolt and Bonpland, they neither met with, nor could hear of, 
the potatoe growing in its native wildness ; nor had it been discovered in 
any part of America till very recently, when the authors of the Flora Pe- 
ruvia7in are said to have found the common species (soMmtm ttiberosiini) 
growing in a wild state in the mountains of Chili, with a new and edible 
species larger than the common one.' Quarterly Review, No. xxxv. p. 141. 
Here are a mis-statement, a mistake, and a prevarication, ^he Flora Pe- 
j'UT'eana was not composed by* authors i' but by a single individual : and, 
while the text refutes the assertion, that the potatoe was not, 'till very 
recently, discovered in any part of America,' another journal, published 
under the same roof with the one just quoted, will enable us to remove all 
the doubts, which are veiled under the words ' are said.' ' Don Joze Pa- 
Ton,' we are informed, ' the celebrated author of the Flora Peruviana,. 
who resided many yea^s in South America, says, 'the solanwn tuberomm 
grows wild in the environs of Lima, in Peru, and fourteen leagues from 
Lima, on the coast. I have, also, found it wild in the kingdom of Chili.' 
The Indians cultivate it in great abundance in Peru and Chili, and call it 
papas. It is said, also, to have been found in the forest near Santa Fe de 
Bagola.' Journal of Science and the Arts, vol. v. p. 198> 



IxXVi THE ABORIGmES. SEC. II. 

From St. Jago the soldiers went by land to Ha- 
vanua; whence they set sail, on the 18tli of May, 
1539; and, after a prosperous voyage of seven days,, 
landed on the coast of Florida. The Indians of that 
day, it would seem, had a mode of transmitting intel- 
ligence by a rude kind of telegraph. The town, 
which Do Soto first entered, was empty; and, 'he 
saw, along the coast,' we are told, 'many smokes, 
which the Indians had made, to give advice the one 
to the other.' Such fires were discovered by all the 
early voyagers; but, whether they were designed to 
communicate information, or merely to cook victuals, 
may not be perfectly certain. 

' The towne,' says the historian, ' was of seven or 
eight houses. The Lorde's house stoode neere the 
shore, upon a verie hie mount, made by hand for 
strength. At another end of the town stood the church, 
and on the top of it stood a fowle, made of wood, with 
gilded eies.' Travellers are so prone to bestow the same 
name upon things, which have little in common, that 
we are at a loss to know what is here meant by the 
word church. As it is mentioned in conjunction with 
the Lord's house, it gives us the idea of a modern 
place of worship; but the mound, upon which the 
Lord's house stood, might have been the reason of 
associating the two things together; and this church, 
like the temple of Mexico, would thus be nothing more 



SEC. II. THE ABORIGINES. Ixxvil 

than a structure of earth, or wood, or stone, with the 
symbols of worship upon the top. 

Soon after De Soto's arrival, one of his foraging 
parties encountered a body of the natives, w ith a Spa- 
niard, by the name of Ortez, who had been a captive 
among them, for more than nine years.* According 
to liim, the Indians had a custom of depositing their 
dead in a sort of vault. When Ucita, upon the en- 
treaty of his daughter, granted the life of his prisoner, 
he appointed him ' keeper of the temple: because that, 
by night, the wolves did carry the dead corpses out of 
the same." What species of building this ' temple' 
was, we know not; but it seems, at any rate, to imply 
an improvement in tombs, of which our present In- 
dians have no idea. 

Ucita had, at length, determined to make a sacra- 
fice of his captive; and it was only by the exertions of 
his daughter, that tlie design was frustrated. Ortez 
escaped to M0C090, the king of another nation; who 
received him with joy, and had always treated him 
with kindness. It is considered, we think, as some- 
thing of a refinement in the English law, that heathen 
witnesses are made to swear according to their own 
principles of religious faith. Savages, in their rudest 
state, arc seldom known to use oaths at all: and yet, 
if Ortez is to be believed, M0C090 ^ caused him pre- 

*■ See postes, p. 26? 



Ixxviii THE ABORIGINES. SEC. 11. 

sently to sweare according to the custom of the Chris- 
tians, that he would not run away from him to any 
other lord.' 

The country seems, at this time, to have heen 
occupied by confederacies of twenty or thirty tribes; 
which, while they had their own particular phylarchs, 
owed allegiance to some supreme lord. Ortez told 
De Soto, that, thirty ICiDgues from the town of Ucita, 
where his army first encamped, there was a sovereign, 
or ' paracossi,' to whom all the kings along the coast 
paid tribute. Laudoniere, also, speaks of a chief, who 
presided over a confederacy, and who was called, he 
says, 'Paracoussy Satouriou,' that is ' King Satouriou.'* 
An officer, with fifty horse and tliirty or forty foot, 
were despatched to hold an interview with the para- 
cossi; but he sent word, by a deputation of thirty In- 
dians, that he was ill, and could not leave his town. 
The Indians were asked, whether gold and silver might 
be found in any part of the country; and, when they 
answered, that, in a western province, called Cale, 
these precious metals were so abundant, that the in- 
habitants wore head-pieces made of gold, the officer 
rewarded their condescension, by putting them all in 
chains.f 

* Hacki,. Voy. vol. iii. p. 321. 

f This is what used to be termed ' the exercise of a just and pious 
violence against pag^ans and heathens;' — a doctrine, which interest once 



SEC. IL THE ABORIGINES. Ixxix 

De Soto is said to have '^ received great comfort/ 
at the news of this achievement; and, stimulated by 
the prospect of a golden fleece, he left one hundred 
men at Spirito Santo, where he had first landed, and 
took his way, with the remainder, for the province of 
Cale. Passing through several smaller towns, he came, 
-at length, to the land of promise; but, so little is hope 
ever realized by fruition, that, instead of loading them- 
selves with bags of gold, our adventurers could not 
find maize enough to satisfy their hunger. They de- 
voured the stalks, while yet too young to bear the 
cob; and, whenever any old corn was discovered, 
they were obliged to triterate it, in rude mortars of 
wood, and sift the meal through their coats of mail. 

On the 11th of August, 1539, the governor started 
from Cale; marched, that day, to Ytara; the 12th, to 
Potano; the 13th, to Utinama; the 14th, to a place, of 
which the name is not given; the 15th, to Cholupaha; 

rendered so fasliionable in Spain. In 1550, the question was disputed 
between the universities of Salamanca and Alcala, in a convention held at 
Valladolid. Lascasas was the champion of the Indians ; and Sepulveda, of 
the Spaniards. A learned friar, of the name of Soto, presided as umpire ; 
and gave his decision in favour of the former. But the doctrine of ' pious 
violence' was not confined to Spain. Even Hackiuyt, an English preben- 
dary, thus speaks of the mode, whicli should be adopted to convert the 
Indians. 'To handle them gently, while gentle courses may be found to 
serve, it will be without comparison the best : but if gentle polishing will 
not serve, then we shall not want hiimmerours and rough masons enow; 
I mean our old soldiours trained up in theNetherL-uids, to square and pre- 
pare them to our preachers' h^nds.' Epist. Ded. to Soto's Exped. 



IXXX . THE ABOIUGINES. SEC. il. 

and the ITtli, to Caliquen. As the last was the resi- 
dence of a confederate chief, he made a stay until the 
10th of September; when he set out for Apalache, 
another golden region; and, after a journey of five 
days, arrived at a place called Napetuca. The king 
of Caliquen had been seized for practising a trick 
upon our travellers; and, when he made his escape 
from his keepers, the governor caught him with a 
grey-hound. His subjects flocked from all quarters 
to obtain his release; and, instead of bringing such 
rude drums as are used by the present Indians, they 
came playing upon an instrument, which is here 
called a flute. Finding, that music and entreaty 
made little impression, they determined to try the 
efficacy of bows and arrows. But these proved 
equally unsuccessful. The natives fled at the first 
onset; and such as were not killed, plunged into two 
large lakes, and swam beyond the reach of the cross- 
bow. Men were stationed around the shore; and, in 
the course of the night, they detected the Indians 
swimming softly towards the bank, with water lillies 
upon their heads. No water lilly, therefore, was suf- 
fered to come near shore; and, as their last device had 
failed, the Indians now appealed to the commissera- 
tiou of John Ortez. They were taken; divided among 
the company; and put in irons. Some broke loose 
nnd killed their masters; and De Soto, to cut short 



SEC. II. THE ABORIGINES. IxXXl 

the possibility of future annoyance, ordered the 
greater part to be tied up and shot. 

On the 23d of September, he left Napetuca; and, 
passing through the great town of Hapaluya, lodged, 
on the 24th, at Uzachil. Supplying himself with 
maize, which was here found in great quantities, he^ 
started for Apalache, on the 27th. Two days brought 
him to Axille; and, on St. Francis' day, he entered 
Vitachuco. The inhabitants now began to grow nu- 
merous; and the maize abundant. On the 23d of Oc- 
tober, the governor lodged in Uzela; and, in two 
days, arrived at Apalache. This was the residence 
of a supreme chief; and overlooked many small- 
er towns, filled with maize, pompions, beans, and 
plums. The soldiers found sumptuous fare; and, in 
one of their predatory excursions, they encountered 
some of the natives, who displayed more gallantry 
than is conmionly found in a modern Indian. They 
were gathering French beans, with a woman; and 
'■ though they might have fled, yet because they would 
not leave the woman, who was one of their wives, 
they resolved to die fighting.' 

The governor now sent back a party to Spirito 
Santo; and was obliged to wait nearly four months, 
for its return. He had been twice disappointed in 
the expectation of finding countries replete with gold 
and silver; but, where there is avarice, there can be 



Ixxxii THE ABORIGINES. SEC. II, 

no incredulity; and the tale of one of the captives^, 
who described the whole process of working mines, 
and refining the ores, induced De Soto to start on the 
3d of March, 1 540, for the rich country of Uupaha. 
On the 9th, he came to Capachiqui; and, on the 
21st, to Toalli. 

' From thence forward,' says the historian, ' there 
was a difference in the houses. For those which 
were behind us were thatched with straw; and those 
of Toalli were covered with reeds, in manner of tiles. 
These houses were very cleanly.* Some of them 
had walls daubed with clay, which showed like a mud 
wall. In all the cold countries, the Indians have every 
one a house for the winter, daubed with clay within 
and without, and the doore is very little: they shut it 
by night, and make fire within; so that they are in it 
as warme as in a stoue: and so it continueth all night, 
that they need not clothes: and besides these, they 
have others for summer; and their kitchens near them, 
where they make their fire and bake their bread: and 
they have barbacoas wherein they keep their maize ; 

* The whole of this account bespeaks a state of improvement, much 
beyond that of the present Indians ; and perhaps the difference will be 
remarked in nothing more than in the article of cleanliness. Riband, who 
sailed in 1562, has also mentioned a precaution, in this respect, which the 
lords of the forest would now disdain to take. He was invited to witness 
the feast of Toya ; and, when he came to the spot, in which it was to be 
celebrated, he 'saw many women round about, which laboured by a! 
meanes to make the place clean and neat.' Hack. Vqy. vol. iii, p. 315. 



SEG. II. THE ABORIGINES. IxXXiii 

which is an house set vp in the aire vpon four stakes, 
boorded hke a chamber, and the flooreof itis of cane 
hurdles. The difference which lords or principall 
mens houses have from the rest, besides they be great- 
er, is, that they have great galleries in their fronts, 
and under them seates made of canes in manner of 
benches: and round about them they have many lofts, 
wherein they lay vp that which the Indians doe giue 
them for tribute, which is maiz, deeres skins, and 
mantles of the country, which are like blankets: they 
make them of the inner rinde of the barkes of trees, 
and some of kind of grasse like unto nettles, which, 
being beaten, is like unto flaxe.* The women couer 
themselves with these mantles; — they put one about 
them from the wast downward; and another ouer their 
shoulder, with their right arme out, like unto the 
Egyptians.! The men weare but one mantle upon 
their shoulders, after the same manner; and haue their 
secrets hid with deere's skin, made like a linen breech, 
which was wont to be vsed in Spain. The skins are 

* This account will serve to explain the mystery of the linen sheets 
and twilled blankets, which were found about the bodies dug' up in the 
western country. 

f One of Ribaud's kings had carried the luxuries of dress and furniture 
to a still greater extent. * His house was hanged about with tapistrie of 
feathers of divers colours, the hight of a pike. Moreouer, the place where 
the king tooke his seat, was couered with couerlettes, embroydered with 
deuises of very wittie and fine workmanship, and fringed round about with 
a fringe dyed in the colour of scarlet.' Hack. p. 316. 



IxXXiv fHE ABORIGINES. SEC. II. 

well corried, and tiiey giue them what colour they hst, 
so perfect, that, if it be red, it seemeth a very fine clothe 
in graine, and the black is most fine: and of the same 
leather they make shooes; and they die their mantles 
in tl)e same colours. '*^ 

The governor left Toalli on the 24th of March; 
and, passing, among other towns, Achese and Alta- 
maca, arrived at Ocute, on the 10th of April The 
king sent him two thousand Indians with a present of 
*^many conies, and partridges, bread of maize, two 
hens, and many dogs.' The latter animal seems to 
have been very common; and, unless the historian 
misapplied the name, or the translator mistakes the 
original, we have here another particular, in which 
the earlier aborigines differed from those, who were 
found by the first English colonists.f 

* If we may rely upon the taste of MM. Ribaud and Laudoniere, the 
early aborigmes had acquired a skill in the pictoral art, of which there is 
no parallel among the present Indians. The former received, from one 
of the kings, *a great skin, painted and drawn throughout with the pic- 
tures of divers wilde beastes, so liuely drawn and purtiayed, that nothing 
'lacked but life.' Hack. Voy. vol. ili. p. 308. M. Laudoniere speaks, in the 
most rapturous language, of the figures upon a skin worn by 'Paracoussy 
Satourioua.' He says, 'it was painted with deuices of strange and diners 
colours, but of so liuely a portraiture, and representing antiquity, with rules 
so justly compossed, that there is no painter so exquisite that could find 
fault therewith : the natural disposition of this strange people is so perfect 
and well guided, that without any ayd and favour of artes, they are able 
by the help of nature only to content the eye of artizans, yea, even of those 
which, by their industry, are able to aspire unto things most absolute.* 
Ibid. p. 321. 

t Harris' Voyages, vol. i. p. 232. 



SEC, 11. THE ABORIGINES, IxXXV 

From Ocute, the governor went to Cofaqui; and 
from Cofaqui to Patofa. He had now chased the 
rainbow for about three hundred and fifty leagues. 
The inhabitants of Patofa assured him, that the cap- 
tive, who told the story of gold mines, was leading his 
soldiers into a wilderness: but De Soto ' was a stern 
man;' and, taking seven hundred Indians to carry the 
baggage, he set out, once more, for Uupaha. A jour- 
ney of nine days, through a path, w hich became gra- 
dually more narrow, and was at length entirely lost, 
brought the party into a forest of pines. The captive 
had promised them the gold of Uupaha, in four days; 
and, if John Ortez could have understood any other 
Indian, the traitor would now have been cast to tlie 
dogs. Detachments were sent, in all directions, to 
find some human abode; and, though the parties came 
in, the first night, driving their disabled horses with 
sticks, and bringing no news of any habitation, they 
<hscovered, on the following day, a town called Aymay, 

At Aymay, they found a storehouse full of flour, 
ground from parched maize. Four Indians were 
taken; and, because they refused to tell the governor, 
where he might find more towns, he ordered one of 
them to be burned. The others now confessed, that, 
at the distance of two days journey, there was a place 
called Cutifachiqui. It was governed by a queen; 
who, on the approach of De Soto, sent her sister, 



ixXXvi THE ABORIGINES. SEC. II. 

^ with four canoes, to bid him welcome. She clehvered 
a speech, and returned. ' Within a Httle while/ says 
our author, ' the ladie herself came out of the towne 
in a chaire, whereon certaine of the principall Indians 
brought her to the riuer. She entered into a barge, 
which had the sterne tilted ouer, and on the floore 
her mat readie laied with two cushions vpon it, one 
vpon another, where she sate her downe; and with 
her came her principall Indians in other barges, which 
did wait vpon her.'* She, also, made a speech; and, 
taking a cordon of pearls from her own neck, threw 
it around that of the governor.! The woods, about 
the town, were chiefly of walnut and mulberry trees: J 

* Laudoiiierc speaks of a queen, who was equally reverenced. ' She 
courteously received our men,' says he ' sent me back my barkes full of 
mill and acornes, with certaine baskets full of the leaues of cassine, where- 
with they make their drink. And the place, where this widow dwelleth 
is the most pltantiful of mill that is in all the coast^ and the most pleasant. 
It is thoughtj that the queen is the most beautiful of all tlie Indians, and of 
whom tliey make the most account : yea, and her subjects honour her so 
much, that almost continually they beare her on their shoulders, and will 
not suffer her to go on foot.' Hack. vol. iii. p. 339. Another queen is 
mentioned in p. 344. 

-j- So the pai-acoussy, of whom we have already spoken, pulled off his 
jich mantel, and gave it to Laudoniere's embassador. Hack. vol. ill. p. 322. 

i: The marginal note is 'mulberry trees for silke ;' and Ribaud tells us, 
that his men actually found the worms. They came to a place, ' where 
were great store of mulberry trees, white and red, on the toppes whereof 
were an infinite number of silke woi'mes.' Hack. vol. iii. p. 309. The 
Chinese would probably deny this. They were, at any rate, the first 
inanufiicturers of silk; and the eggs of the insect were not brought into 
KuropC;, vinti! the veav 565. 



SEC. 11. THE ABORIGINES. IxXXVii 

and, in the ' storehouses/ there were ' great quantities 
of clothes, mantles of yarne made of the barkes of 
trees, and others made of feathers, white, greene, red, 
and yellow;' deer skins, 'with many compartments 
traced in them, and some of them made into hose, 
stockings, and shoes.' 

Perhaps the ancient Germans were the only rude 
people, who ever suffered themselves to be governed 
by women;* and it was as late as 11^5, before any 
female even attempted to sit upon the English throne. 
All savages have been known to hold the weaker sex 
in contempt; and, indeed, a state of society, in whicli 
little is done but to hunt wild beasts, or combat ene- 
mies, must necessarily devolve all power and import- 
ance upon the strong and the brave. ' In the pro- 
gress and settlement of the feudal law,' says the Eng- 
lish historian, ' the male succession to fiefs had taken 
place some time before the female was admitted; and 
estates, being considered as military benefices, not as 
property, were transmitted to such only as could 

* Tacit, in vit. Agric. Solent fcsminarwn diictn bellare, et sexiim in im- 
periis, non discemere. The same custom may have prevailed, more or 
less, among all the Celtic nations; for our author gives us an account of 
Boadicea, the queen of the British Iceni ; who led her subjects against 
the Romans ; and, rather than be taken captive, destroyed herself with 
poison. Ann. 1. 14. There is a great difference, however, hetween the 
ruler of a single tribe, and the empress of an extensive confederacy. The 
queen of Cutifachiqui was acknowledged and obeyed for the space of 
three hundred miles in one direction. De Sot. p, 56, 



IxXXViii THE ABORIGINES. SEC. II. 

serve in the armies, and perform in person the con^ 
dition upon wliich they were originally granted. But 
after that the continuance of rights, during some ge- 
nerations, in the same family, had, in some measure, 
obliterated the primitive idea, the females were gra- 
dually admitted to the possession of feudal property; 
and the same revolution of principles, which procured 
them the inheritance of private estates, naturally in- 
troduced their succession to government and autho- 
rity.^* 

Such, however, was the antipathy to female domi- 
nation, even in the 12th century, that, though Hen- 
ry I. had made the barons often repeat their oaths of 
fealty to Matilda, Stephen thrust himself into her 
place, without the slightest opposition ;t and, in spite 
of all the efforts, which were afterwards made to re- 
move him, he continued to retain his seat. The Eng- 
lish were hardly savages at this time; and, if, with such 
prejudices against the authority of women, they can 
boast of some improvement in the social order, what 
shall we say of our early aborigines; who, as we have 
seen, were not the mere subjects, but the abject 
slaves, of a female ruler? The order is entirely re- 
versed among the present Indians. The squaws are 

* Hume's Hist. Eng. vol. ii. ch. vii. 

•f Ibid. * Very few bai'ons attended Lis coronation; but none opposed 
his usurpation, however unjust or flagrant' 



SEC. 11. THE ABORIGINES. IxXXiX 

the slaves; and, while their lords may be seen bound- 
ing forward, with no encumbrance but the bow or the 
rifle, they trudge in the rear, with all the baggage of 
the household. 

Notwithstanding the kindness, with which Go- 
vernor De Soto had been treated by the queen of 
Cutifachiqui, he ordered her into his train; and, set- 
ting out on the 3d of May, for the province of Chiaha^ 
of which he had heard captivating stories, he travelled 
through Chalaque and Xualla, and arrived at Guaxule, 
on the 20th. Q,ueen Cutifachiqui escaped from him 
between the two former places; and all his efforts to re- 
take her proved fruitless. He was now in a country, 
which bore little maize; and, that the king of Chiaha, 
might have time to prepare a supply, he sent forward 
a detachment to advise him of his approach. In two 
days, he passed Canasagua; and, on the 5th of June, 
entered Chiaha. 

Besides twenty barns of maize, the soldiers found 
gourds filled with the fat of bears, a pot of honey, and 
a great quantity of the oil of walnuts. The town was 
situated upon an island; and, along both branches of 
the river, there were ' very good meadows and many 
fields sown with maize.^* Having recruited his fol- 

* These terms do not appear to have been applied at random. Ver- 
razan saw 'fair fields and plaines :' Ribaud found 'a fair and great mea- 
dow;' and Laudoniere speaks of a place, where 'a man may behold the 

I 



XC THE ABORIGINES. SEC. 11. 

lowers by a stay of thirty days, the governor prepared 
to depart, and asked the king to give him thirty wo- 
men for servants. He said, ' he would confer with 
his chief men;' but the disappearance of the whole 
tribe, in one night, showed, that his answer had little 
correspondence with his determinations.* A promise, 
that they should be unmolested, induced them to re- 
turn; and the king assured De Soto, as an excuse for 
himself, that ' his subjects would not obey him, nor do 
any thing but what an uncle of his commanded, who 
governed the country for him, until he should be of 
perfect age.^f It is a mark of considerable improve- 
ment in society, when law takes the place of force; and 
hereditary title is set above personal competency. At 
the first institution of the Commons, in England, 

meadows diuided asunder into isles and islets interlacing one another.' 
Hack. pp. 296, 309-23. 

• On a similar occasion, the king of Mavilla 'sent for answer that he 
would speak with his principal men.' We have ever observed this deli- 
cate mode of refusal among rude savages. When the king of England 
rejects a bill, 'it is in the gentle language le roi s^avisera.' Black. Com. 
vol. i. p. 184. And, when the Roman consul told Antiochus to raise the 
siege of Alexandria — regem, deliberaturum se dicentem, circumscripsit vir- 
gula, &c. Vel. Patehc. 1593, p. 8. 

f When Laudoniere seized King Utina, and there was no longer any 
prospect of his release, the Indians * assembled themselves in the great 
house, and having called all the people together, they proposed the 
election of anew king, at which time the father in law of Utina set one 
of the king's young sons upon the royal throne : and took such pains, 
that every man did him homage by the major part of the voices.' Hick. 
vol. iii. p. 343. 



SEC. II. THE ABORIGINES. XCl 

the people were directed to choose not the wisest 
merely, but the strongest, men : potentiores ad labo- 
randum* The leader of savages has little need of 
any qualification, but prowess; and the appointment 
of a protector, during the minority of a king, is in- 
dicative of jinuch experience, and some civilization. 

The gc^^vernor departed from Chiaha, on the 26th 
of June; Arrived at Coste, on the 2d of July; set out 
again, on the 1 1th; and, passing a multitude of towns, 
reached Coga, on the 26th. The king came forth 
to meet him, ' in a chaise, which his principall men 
carried on their shoulders, sitting vpon a cushion, 
and couered with a garment of marterns, of the fash- 
ion and bignes of a woman's huke: he had on his 
head, a diadem of feathers, and round about him 
many Indians playing vpon flutes, and singing.' The 
dominions of this king were rich and populous: ' full 
of good meadows vpon riueres,' and ' sowne fields, 
which reached the one to the other.' The Indians 
of the present day have nothing to compare with 
this. 

After a halt of twenty-five days, the governor left 
Coga, on the 20th of August. Tallimuchase and Utana 
were the next towns. A river detained him at the 
latter for six days; and we are not told, on what day 
he entered Ullibahali. The towns now began to have 

* Heit. Hist. Eng. 4to, vol. v. p. 362. 



XCU THE ABORIGINES. SEC. 11, 

walls, built with large posts thrust deep in the ground, 
connected by transverse poles, and bedaubed inside 
and out, with clay.* Continuing his journey, at the 
rate of five or six leagues, the governor passed through 
many villages; and, on the 18th of September, ar- 
rived at Tallise. As there were many other towns 
in the neighbourhood, and the country was rich with 
corn, he tarried twenty days. On the 9th of October, 
he travelled to Casiste; and, the following day, en- 
camped near the country residence of the Tascalu- 
can king. His interview with this sovereign adds 
another example of the difference between the former 
and present Indians. 

'The cacique," says the historian, 'was in his 
lodgings under a canopie: and, without doores, right 

* Carter gives us a description of the walled town of Hachelaga. ' The 
citie,' he says, ' is round, compassed about with timber, with three 
course of rampires, one within another, framed like a sharpe spire, but 
laide acrosse above. The middlemost of them is made and built as a 
direct line, but perpendicular. The rampires are framed and fashioned 
with pieces of timber, layed along on the ground, very well and cun- 
ningly joyned together after their fashion. This enclosure is in hight 
about two rods. It hath but one gate or entrance thereat, which is shut 
with pikes, stakes, and barres. Over it, and also in many places of the 
wall, there be places to run along, and ladders to get up, all full of 
stones, for the defense of it. There are in the town about fifty houses 
about fifty paces long, and twelve or fifteen broad, built all of wood, coe 
vered over with the barke of the wood as hard as any board, very finely 
and cunningly joyned together. Within the said houses, there are many 
rooms, lodgings, and chambers.' Hack, p. 220. 



SEC. II. THE ABORIGINES. XCIII 

against his lodgings, in an high place they spread a 
mat for him, and two cushions one vpon another, 
where he sat him downe, and his Indians placed 
themselves round about him, somewhat distant from 
him, so that they made a place, and a void roome 
where he sate: and his chiefest men were nearest to 
him, and one with a shadow of deeres skinne, which 
kept the sunne from him, being round, and of the 
bignes of a target, quartered with black and white, 
hauing a rundell in the middest: a farre off it seemed 
to be of taffata, because the colours were very per- 
fect. It was set on a small staffe, streatched wide out. 
This w^as the deuice which he carried in his warres. 
He was a man of very tall stature, of great limmes, 
and spare, and well proportioned, and was mucli 
feared of his neighbours and subjects. He was lord 
of many territories and much people: In his counte- 
nance, he was very graue. After the master of the 
campe had spoken with him, he and those that went 
with them coursed their horses, pransing them to and 
fro, and now and then towards the place where the 
cacique was, who with much grauitie and dissimula- 
tion now and then lifted up his eies, and beheld them 
as it were w^ith disdaine. At the gouernour's com- 
ming, he made no offer at all to rise.^ 

The train of Laudoniere's paracoussy was bornr 



XCIV THE ABORIGINES. SEC. U. 

up by some of his subjects;* and, wiien he encamped 
at night, a guard was stationed for his protection.! 
The chiefs of our present Indians, so far from being 
guarded themselves, think it their province to watch 
over their subjects. They carry no standards in war. 
They have nothing hke an umbrella; and would equal- 
ly disdain to confess their effeminacy, by seeking re- 
fuge from the sun, or to indulge themselves in the 
idle parade of having trains, to be borne up by their 
attendants. Savages are wont to stare at wliite men, 
with admiration ; and, no doubt, Soto's master of the 
camp supposed, that the novelty of his horses, and the 
eclat of his manoeuvres, would strike the king of Tas- 
caluca with amazement. He looked upon the proud 
Spaniard with contempt; and hung his head for pity of 
his foolishness. 

Nevertheless, De Soto impressed him into his 
service; and, still holding his course through a rich 
and populous country, came to the extensive town of 
Mavilla, on the 18th of October. The Indians of our 
day have no notion of military defences; and can hardly 
be seduced into a fort. Mavilla was a walled town; 
and, when De Soto appeared before it, the Indians, 
who had assembled from all quarters, stood ready to 
defend themselves through the loop-holes, and from 
the top, of their battlements. The governor thought 

* Hack. p. 322 f Ibid. p. 340. 



SEC. II. THE ABORIGINES. XCV 

he might appease them, by entering the town with a 
few attendants. The king of TascaUica asked hberty 
to speak with some of the Indian leaders; but, as soon 
as he got among his own people, no threat or entreaty 
of De Soto could induce him to return. A soldier 
laid hold of his martern cloak; and, when he dexter- 
ously slipped it over his shoulders, the Spaniard struck 
him with his cutlass. The outrage was answered by 
a shower of arrows. The Spaniards were obliged to 
rely upon their feet; and the governor, being unused 
to run, fell twice before he reached his camp. He 
immediately ordered the town to be set on fire; and, 
marshalling his troops into four squadrons, attacked the 
walls with great fury. The Indians drove him back 
several times; and, when at last overpowered, they 
threw themselves into their burning houses, and per- 
ished, to the number of twenty-five hundred. Eighteen 
Spaniards, and twelve horses, were slain ; and one hun- 
dred and fifty men were covered with seven hundred 
wounds.* 

* The weapons of the Indians were very formidable. * Their bowes,' 
says the historian, 'are uery long', and their arrowes are made of certaine 
canes like reedes, uery heauie, and so strong, that a sharpe cane passeth 
through a target. Some they .irme in the pointe, which a sharpe bone of 
a fish, like a chisel, and in others they fasten certaine stones like points of 
diamants. For the most part, when they light vpon an armour, they breake 
in the place where they are bound together. Those of cane do split and 
pierce a coate of maile, and are more hurftul than the other.' Bows and 
arrows, when they are the only weapons of defence, must necessarily be 



XCVl THE ABOltlGINES. SEC. H. 

After a rest of twenty-eight days, the governoi' 
resumed his march, on the 18th of November; and, 
on the 1 7th of the following month, arrived at Chi- 
ca9a. He remained in the neighbourhood of this town, 
more than two months. The Indians had time to con- 
cert measures of hostility; and, at the second watch, 
on the night of March, the 8th, 1541, the sound of a 
drum announced their assault, in four squadrons. 
De Soto's men were quartered in the town: the In- 
dians remembered Mavilla: fire was set to all the 
houses; and, in the smoke, confusion, and uproar, so 
many of the soldiers were either killed or wounded, 
that, had not the natives been frightened by the horses, 
which broke loose, scarcely a Spaniard would have 
been left to acknowledge the justness of the retribu- 
tion. 

The Indians shortly after made a second attack; 
but they had been too slow in following up their ad- 
vantage: the Spaniards beat them with little difficulty; 
and, after remaining long enough to repair his losses, 
the governor marched to Alimamu, on the 25th of 

larger and stronger than such as are now found among the Indians. The 
Parthians have been chiefly celebrated for their mode of shooting on the 
retreat ; but their wars with the Romans show, that their weapons were 
sufficiently terrible, when used in any manner; and we do not wonder, 
that, when the astrologer told Crassus, his expedition against Partha would 
prove unsuccessful, because the sign Scorpio wore a bad aspect, he an- 
swered, ' I fear not Scorpio, but Sag-ittarivs.' 



SEC. II. THE ABORIGINES. XCfii 

April. The Indians had again concentred their forces; 
and were seen walking, with their weapons, upon the 
top of ' a strong fort.^* But the Spaniards once more 
put them to flight; and,. for the seven days, consumed in 
reaching Quizquiz, they travelled without molestation. 
From Q^uizquiz, they went to a river, which was so 
broad, that, ' if a man stood still on the other side, it 
could not be discerned, whether he were a man or 
no.' The channel was very deep; the current strong: 
the water muddy, and filled with floating trees. The 
Mississippi still maintains her identity. 

The governor was told by some Indians, who came 
to see him, shortly after his arrival, that they were 

* Our present Indians never wait for an enemy, except it be in some 
place of concealment. During the whole course of De Soto's expedition, 
we do not hear of an}' thing like a modern ambush. At Mavilla, parties 
frequently sallied from the walls, to attack the Spaniards in the open field; 
and, in the battle at the fort, here mentioned, they came in front * by 
sevens and eights ;' each rank discharging its arrows, and giving place to 
another. Laudonicre has a similar account. His lieutenant, Ottigney, 
he tells us, ' had to deale with such kind of men, as knewe well how to 
fight and to obey their head whiche conducted, and whiche knewe so well 
how to behaue themselves in this conflict, as if Ottigney had not preuent- 
ed their practise, he had beene in danger to have bene defeated. Their 
manner in this fight was, that when two hundred had shot, they retyred 
themselves and gave place to the rest that were behind, and all the while 
had their eye and foot so quicke and ready, that, as soone as ever they 
saw the harquebuze laide to the chceke, so soonc were they on the ground, 
and eftsoone vp to answer with their bovves, ho.' Hack. Voy. vol. iil. p. 346. 
Our present Indians never fight with the least order ; and their greatest 
skill in manoeuvre, does not extend beyond lying in wait, or dodging be- 
hind a tree. 

m 



XCVm THE ABORIGINES. SEC. IL 

the subjects of Aquixo; a king of many towns, on the 
other side of the river, who intended to pay him a visit, 
with all his people. Accordingly, the next day, two 
hundred canoes were seen descending the river, which, 
it is said, were ' very great and well made;' • had their 
tilts, plumes, pauesses, and flagges; and, with the mul- 
titude of people that were in them, seemed to be a 
faire armie of gallies.' This description evinces a 
state of naval architecture, much beyond any thing 
among the present Indians, or among savage nations 
in general. The tilts or canopies were for the different 
chiefs. The warriors stood from head to stern; and 
not only carried their bows and arrows, — but held 
shields* for the protection of the rowers. The whole 
fleet joined together; and, approaching within a stone's 
throw of the shore, Aquixo made many fair speeches, 
and, at last, sent the governor three canoes, laden with 
fish, and a sort of cake, made of prunes. This seems 
to have been a mere visit of ceremony; and the king 
soon began to withdraw. De Soto ordered his cross- 
bowmen to let fly at the galleys. Five or six Indians 
fell; but the outrage, though unexpected, produced no 
disorder. Each kept his place; and the whole squad- 
ron retired, without breaking the line. 

The Spaniards constructed four barges to cross 

* So, at Pacaha, ' targets of raw ox hides' were found. If the reader 
has ever seen pictures of Trojan ships, he will have a good idea of Aquixo's 
fleet. 



SEC. II. THE ABORIGINES. 



XCIX 



Rio Grande, as they called it; but, when they had 
reached the opposite shore, the complete desertion of 
Aquixo's town convinced them, that their violence 
was as impolitic as it was inhuman. The villages 
along the river were so frequent, that, from one, you 
might see two or three; and, as far as the sway of this 
king extended, the inhabitants fled before their ' pious' 
conquerors. The people of Casqui had no tidings of 
these Christian deliverers; and not only were they 
taken, and their towns sacked, without resistance,— 
but, to pay for their illumination, they were compelled 
to build a bridge over the stream, which divided their 
own territory from that of the people of Pacaha. The 
king of the latter was invited to an interview with the 
governor; but he, too, was, at first, insensible to the 
charms of a religion, propagated by the shaft and the 
cutlass. His towns were all abandoned to the meek 
followers of the cross; who found great numbers of 
mantles, besides deer, lion, bear, and cats' skins: and, 
having worn out their old garments, they made them- 
selves new. 

It was upon the 19th of June, that the governor 
entered the chief city of Pacaha. ' It was/ says the 
historian, 'very great; walled, and beset with towers, 
and many loopeholes were in the towers and wall. 
And in the towne was great store of old maiz, and 
great quantitie of new in the fields. Within a league 



C THE ABORIGINES. SEC. 11. 

and half a league were great townes, all walled. Where 
the governor was lodged, was a great lake, that came 
neere unto the wall: and it entered into a ditch that 
went round about the towne, wanting but little to en- 
uiron it round. From the lake to the Great River 
ivas mad a weare, by which the fish came into it; 
which the cacique kept for his recreation and sport: 
with nets, that were found in the towne, they took as 
much as they would. ^ 

The Pacahans appear to have been sufficiently 
civilized to erect those mounds, along the Mississippi, 
which have occasioned so much wonder; and the 
passage, just extracted, forms a strange contrast to 
the description of a people, who were found in the 
same neighbourhood, about one hundred and forty 
years after the expedition of De Soto. In the place of 
splendid towns, with walls and battlements, there was 
here and there a cluster of hovels, composed of rough 
poles, set in a circle, or in parallel lines; united at the 
top; and covered with bark or skins: not intended for 
a permanent habitation, — but as a mere temporary 
shelter.* Such a thing as a tower seems never to 

* Jovtel's Journal Historique du dernier Voyage que feu M. De La 
Sale fit, &c. A Paris, mdccxiii. Accounts of this expedition have 
also been given by Le Clerc, Tostt, and Hennepik. Jovtel appears to 
be the most worthy of credit. His narrative is related with great sim- 
plicity ; and he does not seem to have been predisposed to find mon- 
sters. The account of La Salle's death bespeaks its own fidelity ; and, in 



SEC. II. THE ABORIGINES. CI 

have entered their imaginations; and, instead of "^ great 
galHes,' they had ' petits canots.' The manners of 
the inhabitants were on a level with the style of their 
architecture. Their utmost ideas of pomp did not 
extend beyond a tumultuous concourse of warriors, 
bedecked with painted feathers, deer skin, and bits 
of cloth; shaking gourds filled with pebble stones; 
and, when at a short distance from their guests, toss- 
ing up their right hands, and whooping with all their 
might.* 

tlie quarrel, which began the tragedy, the reader may discover a trait of 
national character. It arose upon a difference of opinion respecting the 
mode of cooking some buffaloe's meat. *En arrivant,' says M. Jovtel. 
le Sieur Moranget, (La Salle's nephew,) trouva qu'on avolt fait boucan 
ner les deux bcEufs, quoiqu'ils ne fussent pas assez sees. Et comme les 
dits Liotot, Hiens, Duhaut, eties autres avoient mis les os a moiielle, et 
autres a part, pour rotir, et manger la viande qui y reste comme c'estoit 
la coutume, le Sieur Moranget le trouva mauvais; il se saisit en colere 
non seulement de toute la viande boucannee ; mais encore de tous ces os, 
sans leur en rien donner ; au contraire en les menagant qu'ils ne mange- 
roient pas tant comme ils pensoient, et qu'il pretendoit bien menager 
auti'ement cette viande.' p. 196. Such an affront could only be revenged 
by the death both of Moranget and La Salle. Liotot and his others 
watched their opportunity ; dispatched the former with a hatchet ; shot 
the latter through the heart, and stript and insulted his body. ' Litot 
luy dit bien souvent par derison, Tevoila grand Bacha, te voild.' pp. 197. 
203. 

* Jov. p. 213. In one place the ceremony was still more ludicrous. 
'Lesofficiers (de le chef,) estoient au nombre de sept ou huit, toujours 
autour de luy, tout nuds, et barbouillez, les uns d'une facon, et les autres 
del'autre; chacun d'eux avoit trois ou quatre calleb asses ou gourdes 
attachees a une ceinture de cuir autour d'eux, dans lesquelles 11 y avoit 



Cll THE ABORIGINES. SEC. II. 

At the time of De Soto's expedition the kings of 
Pacaha and Casqui were at war; and, it ought to be 
mentioned for the singularity of the example, that the 
governor restored their friendship, and invited them to 
his table. ' They fell at variance,^ however, ' about 
the seates, which of them should sit on his right 
hand;' and he was obliged to renew his negotiation 
to keep them quiet. They diverted him with stories 
of gold and copper mines in a northern province; and, 
having tarried forty days, to refresh his troops, he 
again set off in pursuit of the darling object. On the 
5th of August, he arrived at Quigaute, the largest 
town in Florida. He now began to be told, that he 
should go south, if he wanted to find wealthy coun- 
tries; but, as he had heard of Coligoa, a mountainous 
kingdom to the north, he supposed himself in the 
right track for mineral regions; and, travelling forty 
leagues, through thickets and morasses, he came, at 
length, in sight of the golden hills. Coligoa was 
very fruitful; and the inhabitants had laid up such 
stores of maize, ' that they cast out the old to bring in 
the new.' All this, however, was not gold. To the 
south, the king assured the governor, there was a 
rich province called Cayas: to the south, therefore, 

<le petlts cailloux, et sur le derriere pendoit aussi une queue de cheval, 
en sorte que quand ils couroient, les gourdes fasoient un cliquetis, et la 
queue portee au gre du vent avoit toute son etendue, &c. p. 312. 



SEC. II. THE ABORIGINES. CHI 

he now bent his course; and, in five days, arrived at 
Pahsema. The king vacated his own house for his 
reception; and the floor was found covered, 'in 
manner of carpets,^ with deer skins painted in various 
colours and devices. He stopped at anotlier town, 
named Tatahcoya; and, in four days, reached Tanico, 
in Cayas. 

Here he remained a month. ' VntiU that time/ 
says our author, 'the Christians wanted salt; and 
there they made good store, which they carried 
along with them. The Indians doe carrie it to other 
places to exchange for skinnes and mantles. They 
make it along the riuer, which, where it ebbeth, 
leaveth it vpon the vpper part of the sand. And be- 
cause they cannot make it without much sand mingled 
with ii, they throw it into certain baskets, which they 
have for that purpose, broad at the mouth, and nar- 
row at the bottom, and set it in the aire vpon a 
barre, and throw water into it, set a small vessel un- 
der it, wherein it falleth: Being strained and set to 
boile vpon the fire, when the sodden away, the salt 
remaineth in the bottome of the pan.^ In other places 
the Indians manufactured great stores of salt by eva- 
porating the 'brackish water,' which sprang from 
fountains; and, as it was exchanged for skins and 
mantles, the tribes, for a great extent of territory, 
must have been in the habit of using it. Our present 



CIV THE ABORIGINES. SEC. II. 

Indians know nothing of salt, except what tliey have 
learned from the whites; and, indeed, savage nations 
have ever been known to loathe the taste of saline 
substances. 

The king of Tanico shunned the embraces of 
Governor De Soto; and, after waiting three days, 
the latter was obliged to ferret him out of the woods. 
Learning, that a southern province, called Tulla was 
rich and populous, he first sent a party of fifty men to 
examine it for themselves; and, when they returned, 
sore with wounds from the inhabitants, he marched 
thither at the head of all his force. The natives, at 
first, kept out of his way; but, in a few days, they be- 
gan to come in, laden with dressed buffalo skins, 
and dropping tears and heaving sobs for their delin- 
quency. A journey of eleven days brought the go- 
vernor to Autiamque; where he designed to spend 
the winter, and ordered his men to construct a wood- 
en enclosure for their encampment. 

During the course of the winter, he was often vi- 
sited by the prince of Tietiquaquo, who had a defec- 
tive leg; and we omitted to mention, that, at Casqui, he 
had been impetrated, as the child of the sun, to heal 
two blind people. In Carter's second voyage, we find 
a still more curious account of halt and Wind Indians. 
King Agouhanna's limbs were shrunk together by 
the palsy; and, bein§ brought forth by nine or ten of 



SEC. II. THE ABORIGINES. CV 

his men, he desired the captain to touch him. A com- 
phance with this request confirmed him in the opi- 
nion, that Carter had come down from heaven; and 
the natives soon ' brought before him diuers diseased 
men, some bhnde, some creple, some lame and im- 
potent, and some so old that the haire of their eyehds 
came downe and couered their cheeks.'* Nothing of 
this kind is found among the present Indians. They 
have no lame or blind people; and, though some sup- 
pose, that the simplicity of their habits prevents any 
imperfection in their issue, the common opinion is, 
that they make away with all their deformed children. 
Nothing is more certain than, that they take every 
pains to secure them from any serious corporeal in- 
jury. The infant is lashed upon a board, to make it 
straight; and, during all the period of childhood, the 
parents are so fearful of deformity from the hand or 
the rod, that their only chastisement consists in plung- 
ing or throwing the delinquent into water. Society 
has become considerably improved, when the domi- 
nation of the body, yields to that of the mind: we 
have already seen, that a ' maim upon the face' was 
fatal to the Welsh succession in the twelfth century; 

* Hack. Voy. vol. iii. p. 221. Carter did not hesitate to gratify his pa- 
tients. • Seeing their misery and devotion,' says the account, ' he recited 
the gospel of Saint' John, that is to say, "In the beginTiing was the word;'' 
touching every one that was diseased,' &c, 

n 



Cvi THE ABORIGINES. SEC, XL 

and, among mere savages, perhaps such a thing as a 
lame sovereign was never known. 

De Soto seems to have become weary of his gold- 
en dreams; and he now longed to see Cuba and Isa- 
bella. On the 6th of March, 1542, he began to de- 
scend the Great River; and, after most difficult 
marches with rain and snow, overhead, and swamps 
and freshes, underfoot, arrived at Nilco, on the 29th, 
of the same month, and at Guachoya, on the 1 7th of 
April. Nearly half of his men had been already lost: 
the remainder were reduced to extreme weakness; 
and, from mortification and fatigue, he was thrown 
into a fever. To depress him still more, when he 
had sent to inform the king of a rich province called 
Q,uigalta, that he was the child of the sun, and, being 
in want of maize, would be glad to see him, the 
heathen answered, ' That whereas he said he was the 
childe of the sunne, if he would drie vp the riuer he 
would belieue him: and touching the rest, that he 
was wont to visit none; bvt rather that all those of 
whom he had notice did visit him, serued, obeyed, 
and paid him tributes willingly or perforce: therefore, 
if he desired to see him, it were best he should come 
thither: that, if he came in peace, he would receiue 
him with speciall good will; and, if in war, in like 
manner he would attend him in the towne where he 
was, and that from him or any other he wovld not 



SEC. ir. THE ABORIGINES. CVlj 

shrink one foote backe.' The other Indians, also, 
began to grow insolent; and, to renovate their dread 
of his power, the governor sent a detachment to lay 
waste Nilco, which contained about six thousand 
souls. The horsemen made no distinction between 
sexes or ages; but rushed upon the defenceless mul- 
titude; killed some, wounded others, and trod the rest 
under foot. 

This was a virtue in those days; and, accordingly, 
the death of De Soto is thus announced, in the next 
page but one: ' On the 21st of May, 1542, departed 
out of this life, the valourous, virtuous, and valiant cap- 
taine, Don Ferdinando De Soto, gouernour of Cuba, 
and Adelantado of Florida.' He had previously as- 
sembled his officers; and, after some consultation, 
made them swear to obey Lewis De Moscoso. The 
new governor, we are told, was 'giuen to his ease;' 
and had ' desired long to see himself in a place where 
he might sleepe his full sleepe, than to conquer and 
gouern a covntrie, where so many trovbles presented 
themselves.' 

A council of officers resolved to go westward, in 
the hope of finding New Spain. They started on 
the 5th of June; arrived at Chaguati, on the 20tb; 
at Aguacay, on the 4th of July; on the 20th, at 
Amaye; and, in the beginning of August, at Nagua- 
tax. The governor trusted to Indian guides; who 
frequently led him astray, on purpose; and, whether it 



CVlll THE ABORIGINES. SEC. II. 

were through malice or ignorance, they were generally 
hung upon the first tree, if found in the wrong. Like 
the other kings, Naguatax was, at first, somewhat coy, 
but, after the governor had killed a few scores of his 
subjects, he came, with tears in his eyes, and implored 
forgiveness.* A month or two more were spent in 
these delightful conquests; but no intelligence could 
be obtained of New Spain; and it was thought best to 
return, and follow the Rio Grande. They had burned 
the towns and devastated the country, in their pro- 
gress; and, when they came to retrace their steps, 
hunger often convinced them, that inhumanity is not 
always wisdom. 

They found their way to Nilco; but it was destitute 
of food; and, in the beginning of December, they 
started for Minoya. A most wearisome journey was 
recompensed by six thousand bushels of maize: the 
soldiers were once more in comfortable lodgings; and 
it was now resolved to build seven brigantines, and 
sail down the river. The chains, in which the Indians 
had been led, were forged into spikes and nails. There 
were left, in the company, a sawyer, a ship builder, two 
caulkers, and a cooper. The mantles, procured from 
the natives, were unravelled for oakum, and bent for 

* The earthen vessels, dug up in the Western country, have been 
supposed to indicate the former existence of a civilized people. At Na- 
guatax, our historian informs us, there were 'vessels made of clay, which 
differ very little from those of Estreraorz, or Montimor.' 



SEC. II. THE ABORIGINES. ClX 

sails. Anchors were made of bits of iron; and cables, 
of cords* obtained from the natives, or manufactured 
from bark, by the Spaniards. And, as if heaven had 
conspired to rid the country of their presence, ' it 
pleased God,^ says their historian, ' that the flood (of 
the Mississippi, in March and April) came up to the 
tovvne to seeke the brigantines.^ 

On the 2d of July, 1543, they departed from Mi- 
noya. After sailing five or six days, they were met 
by the king of Q,uigalta; who had a ' fleete of one hun- 
dred faire and great canoes, furnished with tilts and 
ensignes/ and carrying each from sixty to seventy men. 
When within a crossbow-shot, he sent three Indians, 
'in a small canoe,' to make his compliments to the 
governor; who, in return, detached a captain, with 
fifteeen men, in canoes, to break the line of tlie fleet, 
and compel the Indians to retire. They opened their 
array as he approached; closed it upon him, when he 
had advanced far enough; boarded some of the ca- 
noes; over-set others; and, if a Spaniard did not sink 
with the weight of his armour, they knocked him on 
the head. The brigantines were next assailed: the 
arrows soon came so thick as to drive the men below 
deck; and the Indians, availing themselves of the pro- 

* A botanist not long since obtained a patent for making ropes of the 
American nettle. Tbey arc stronger, and more durable, than those of the 
common hemp. 



ex THE ABORIGINES. iSEC. 11. 

jeclile principle, shot into the air. As soon as night 
fell, the Spaniards supposed they might escape; but 
the Indians ' followed vs,' says the gentleman of Elvas, 
'all that night, and the next day till noone; by which 
time we were come into the countrie of others, whom 
they desired to vse vs after the same manner; and so 
they did.' Our argonauts were obliged to row night 
and day; and, when, at last, they approached the sea, 
and expected to enjoy some rest, they had no sooner 
dropped anchor, than another swarm of Indians set 
upon them, with lances made of wood and fishbone. 

They now proceeded to the mouth of the river; 
and, on the 18th of July, set sail for New Spain. 
They continued their course two days; and were still 
in fresh water. On the fourth day the wind drove 
the brigantines on shore. The fifth was more calm; 
but, on the sixth, they were obliged to take shelter 
in a creek; where they remained four days. No sooner 
had they put to sea, again, than a violent tempest 
arose; and, that nothing might be wanting to make 
the voyage a fit subject for poetry, they were, in the 
midst of their troubles, saluted by a race of harpies. 
' While they were in this tempest in great feare of being 
cast away in that place, (says our author, who, like 
Thucydides, in his account of the plague, was enabled 
to describe with fidelity, because he had been one of the 
sufferers,) from midnight forward they endiu'ed an in- 



SEC. II. THE ABORIGINES. CXI 

tolerable torment of an infinite swarme of musketoes, 
which fell vpon them, which, as soone as they had stung 
the flesh, it so infected it, as though they had beene 
venimous. In the morning tlie sea was asswaged, and 
the wind slaked, but not the musketoes: for the sailes, 
which were white, seemed black with them in the 
morning. Those which rowed, vnlesse others kept 
them away, were not able to row. Having passed the 
feare and danger of the storme, beholding the de- 
formities of their faces, and the blowes which they 
gave themselves to drive them away, one of them 
laughed at another.^ 

It has been considered as the particular curse of 
America, that its low grounds are infested with this 
formidable insect: but, if it should be determined, that 
our Indians emigrated from Northern Asia, we shall 
contend, that the mosquito came along with them ; and, 
though, as philosophers have said, the dog so degene- 
rates in our chmate as to become incapable of bark- 
ing, we think, they will, at least, allow, that the mos- 
quito is not so much affected as to be unable to bite. 
The Tungusians of Asia, we are told, 'both men and 
women, carry a pot on their left arms, continually 
furnished with old smoking wood; which preserves 
them from the biting of the mosquitos or gnats, with 
which the country along the river Tungusky and the 
woods are so abundantly pestered, that not only the 



CXU THE ABORIGINES. SEC. U. 

face, but the liaiuls and legs are uncovered, their biting 
becomes insupportable.'* We are inclined to believe, 
that mosquitos, as well as wolves, may be found 
in all wild countries; and, however the English of the 
present day may congratulate themselves upon their 
exemption from such a torment, we suspect, that some 
of the best stanzas of one of their greatest poets, had 
no other inspiration than the bite of this insect-f 

* Haheis' Voy. vol. ii. p. 929. 

f Spencer's pecuniary embarrassments obliged him to retire, for some 
time, to the nortli of England ; and we have little doubt, that the 'cum- 
brous gnats' in the following lines, are the same with those mentioned by 
Harris : — 

A gentle shepherd, in sweete eventide. 

When ruddy Phcebus gins to welk in west. 

High on a hill, his flock to vewen wide, 

Marks which doe byte the hasty supper best ; 

A cloude of cumbrous gnats doe him molest. 

All striving to infixe their feeble stings. 

That from their noyance he no where can rest; 

But with his clownish hands their tender wings, 

He brusheth oft, and oft doth mar their murmurings. 

Fairy Queen- 
Another swarm : — 

As when a swarm of gnats at eventide 

Out of the fennes of Allan do arise. 

Their murmuring small trompetts sounden widcj 

Whiles in the air their clustering armie flies. 

That as a cloude doth seeme to dim the skies; 

No man nor beast may rest or take repast. 

For their sharp wounds and noyous injuries. 

Till the fierce northern wind, with blustring blast. 

Doth blow them quite awa)^ and in the ocean cast, Uid. 



SfiC. II. THE ABORIGINES. CXIU 

Two days more, the Spaniards were obliged to 
endure the storm and the mosquitos. The lee of a 
small island, in an arm of the gulf, furnished them 
shelter for fourteen days; when 'it pleased God to 
send them faire weather;' and 'with great deuotion, 
they appointed a procession, and went along the strand, 
beseeching God to bring them to land, where they 
might serve him in better sort.' On the 10th of 
September, 1 543, they reached the mouth of Panuco 
River. The town of the same name consisted of se- 
venty Spanish families; and both here, and at Mexico, 
the inhabitants vied with each other, in caressing and 
entertaining their countrymen. ' God reward them 
all,' says the historian ; and it is instructive to read the 
final expressions of a man, who, like the rest, had 
started with such bright prospects of splendid fortune: 
' God grant, that those which it pleased him to dehuer 
out of Florida, and to bring againe into Christendome, 
may serue him: and vnto those that died in that coun- 
try, and vnto all that believe in him and confesse his 
faith, God, for his mercie sake, grant the kingdome of 
Heauen. Amen.'* 

From the foregoing detail, it will appear, that, at 
the time of De Soto's expedition, this country was 

* We have taken some pains to ascertain the courses and distances 
of this expedition. Neither these, nor dates, are much attended to in 
the narrative; and, even when set down^ are often loose and contra- 





CXIV THE ABORIGINES. SEC. 11. 

occupied by extensive communities ol" people; sepa- 
rated from each other by belts of hunting forests; 
living in comparative peace; and given chiefly to agri- 
cultural pursuits. They planted extensive fields of 
corn; and cultivated such other vegetables as were 
necessary to their subsistence, or conducive to their 
gratification. The bow and the trap, easily supplied 
them with the requisite animal food; and, in the midst 
of peace and abundance, they found both the disposi- 
tion and the time to improve the circumstances of their 
domestic economy. They erected walls about their 
towns; made their houses more commodious, and of 
better materials; became more refined in their ideas 
of government, law, and morality; more luxurious in 

dictory. The place, where the soldiers landed, was called Spirito Santo, 
They travelled, 

W. and N. W. 100 leagues, to Apalache : 

N. E. 400 leagues, to Cutifachequi : 

N. 250 leagues, to Xualla : 

W. 190 leagues, to Coga : 

S. 60 leagues, to Tascaluca: 

W. 300 leagues, to Kio Grande and Aquixo : 

N. 150 leagues, (on the west side of Rio Grande,) to Coligoa : 

S. S. E. 250 leagues, to Autiamqui : 

"With the exception of one considerable episode, they afterwards fol- 
lowed the course of Rio Grande. These statements of our author are all 
conjectural ; and perhaps it can never be precisely ascertained how far the 
governor advanced to the north. We are told, in one place, that the cli- 
mate was excessively cold; and the mention o? Saqneclmma, (p. 82.) may 
warrant us in supposing, that they were then in the neighbourhood of 
Susqxiehanna. 



SEC. II. THE ABORIGINES. CXV 

their dress and equipage; more tasteful in their orna- 
ments; more cleanly in their persons, and more dig- 
nified in their manners. But, with the tastes and 
notions of the savage, they lost his strength and fero- 
city; and, though still formidable by their numbers 
and discipline, would, without much difficulty, fall a 
prey to a more hardy and warlike race. 

That such a race existed, in the north, there can 
be little doubt. Verazan remarks a total contrast 
between the natives of the south, and those, whom he 
saw, after passing the forty-fourth parallel. ' Looke,' 
says he, ' how much the former seemed to be cour- 
tious and gentle; so much were these ful of rudeness 
and ill manners, and so barbarous, that by no signes 
that euer we could make, we could have any kind of 
traffike with them. They cloth themselves with beares 
skinnes, and luzernes, and scales, and other beasts 
skinnes. Their food, as far as we could perceive, re- 
pairing often unto their dwellings, we suppose to be 
by hunting and fishing, and of certaine fruits, which 
the earth yieldeth of her own accord. They haue 
no graine, neither saw we any kind or signe of tillage, 
neither is the land, for the barrennesse thereof, apt to 
beare fruit or seed. If at any time we desired by 
exchange to haue any of their commodities, they vsed 
to come to the sea shore vpon certaine craggy rocks, 
and we standing in our boats, they let downe with a 



CXVi THE ABORIGINES. SEC. II. 

rope what it pleased them to giue vs, crying continu- 
ally that we should not approach the land, demanding 
immediately the exchange, taking nothing but kniues, 
fish hookes, and tooles to cut withall, neither did they 
make any account of our courtisie. And when he had 
nothing, when w^e departed from them, the people 
shewed all signes of discourtisie and disdaine, as were 
possible for any creature to invent.'* 

Verazan could only see such tribes as were along 
the coast; but we may safely presume, that this de- 
scription would equally apply to those in the interior. 
The soil and climate of high latitudes forbid the 
cultivation of grains; and, unless the inhabitants be 
supplied, by a commerce with more southern na- 
tions, they must depend, for subsistence, upon beasts, 
birds, and fish. The perpetual war of the chase, 
would, of itself, make a people robust and ferocious: 
but the pursuit of game must often lead one tribe to 
encroach upon the grounds of another: a new kind 
of war is provoked; and, between the two, a nation 
"falls into a state of savageism little above that of the 
beasts, whom they hunt. Strength becomes their only 
virtue ; and dexterity their highest wisdom. 

Such a people, if once acquainted with the ease, 
quiet, and imbecility of their neighbours, would want 
no other motive to oust them of their possessions, and 

TTack. Voy. vol. iii. p. 300. 



SEC. II. THE ABORIGINES. CXVll 

take away their lives. It would not be necessary for 
different tribes to combine in a simultaneous irrup- 
tion. The southern communities themselves were not 
in alliance with each other: one of them might have 
been first exterminated, by a single tribe, from the 
north; and the rest of the tribes, in the same quarter, 
observing its success, would follow the example. It 
was in no other manner, that Europe became the 
property of the barbarians: some Indians, in Ohio, 
have a tradition, that their ancestors extirpated a peo- 
ple, who first occupied their territory; and it is not 
many years since, that the Potawatamies, giving no- 
tice to the Miamies, that ' they were tired offish, and 
wanted meat,' descended upon their country, without 
waiting for an answer, — and established, upon the 
Wabash, the two villages of Chippoy and Tippecanoe.* 

• These observations were written before the appearance of Mh. 
Heckeweldek's History of the Indians. See Trans, of the Hist, and Lit. 
Commit, of the Amer. Philos. Soc. Vol. i. Pliila. 1819. This volume is 
wholly occupied with papers concerning the Indians : the committee have 
still a number of works, in manuscript, upon the same subject; and per- 
haps there is no branch of American history, which so much demands 
their care, or upon which their care can be more laudably bestowed. We 
must not flatter ourselves, that the true history of the Indians has yet been 
developed. Each tribe relates a diflTerent story ; and it is only by making 
collections of their various accounts, — selecting' the facts, upon which they 
agree, and adjusting tlie probabilities of contradictory statements, that we 
shall be enabled to ascertain the truth. There is no time to be lost ; and, 
while we applaud our Historical Societies for the collections, which they 
have already made, we would urge the necessity of immediate efl^brts to 
make more. 



CXVIU THE ABORIGINES, SEC. II. 

So much may be said in favour of the supposition, 
that the United States have been inhabited by two 

The accounts, hitherto published, are, for the most, those of transient 
visitors ; who, having little acquaintance with Indian languages, or with 
Indian manners, were not likely to obtain correct or extensive informa- 
tion. An Indian always suspects some evil motive in an inteirogatory ; 
and, if he makes any answer at all, it is only to amuse the enquirer with a 
fictitious tale. Mr. Heckewelder resided with them, as a friend, for a 
great nuniber of years; and he has collected his knowledge, — not by 
rousing their suspicion with questions, — but by hstening to their speeches 
and conversations. His book, which is here translated from the German, 
by Mh. DupojfCEAU, corresponding secretary to the committee, embraces 
a variety of curious matter; and will enable us to add some new facts, to 
the meagre accounts of the aborigines, which we had drawn fi'om other 
sources. 

Our reason for noticing it, in this place, is, that it may be supposed to 
/ corroborate the hypotheses of two distinct races. The Dclawai'es have a 
tradition, that they and the Five Nations emigrated from a country far to 
the west ; that they extirpated a people, who ' had many large towns on 
the great rivers,' with ' regular fortifications and entrenchments ;' and that 
their nation, in particular, at last, extended its branches north beyond 
New England, and south to the Potomack. But this account is intermixed 
with fables of giants ; and the Five Nations have so many statements di- 
rectly in contradiction to those of the Delawares, that implicit reliance is 
not to be placed upon either. The former, for instance, call themselves 
Ongwehonwe, 'men surpassing all others;' and bestow upon the latter 
the epithet of 'women.' The name of the Delawares, on the other hand, 
is Lcnni Lenape, 'tlie original people.' They formerly compared them- 
selves to the grasslioppers, v.hich devastate the country; and asserted, 
that the Five Nations Vv-ere a tribe of croaking frogs, which make a great 
noise, when all is quiet ; but leap into the water, and are silent, at the ap- 
pi'oach of danger, — even at the rustling of a leaf. The Five Nations pre- 
tend to have subdued the Delawares in battle ; but this the latter ' strongly 
:md pointedly deny ;' and, though our author seems inclined to think them 
in the right, It 5s not easy to find a reason for believing the one any more 



SEC. II. THE ABORIGINES. CXIX 

distinct races of Indians. On the other hand, the 
examples of history, the nature of our species, and 
the connection between the colonists and the abori- 
gines, may, perhaps, be sufficient to account for all 
the degeneracy, which the latter have undergone. The 
institutions of Sparta almost demonstrated the equahty 
of the sexes, in corporeal, as well as mental, strength. 
War made the Romans so hardy, that they could en- 
dure the greatest fatigue, or sustain the most ponder- 
ous armour. Peace rendered them so effeminate, 
that, according to Juvenal's satire, one of them sweat 
under the pressure of a finger-ring. There is no im- 
mortal principle in civilization. The same facility of 
nature, which enables us to improve, will permit us to 
degenerate; and the Greeks, who seem to have been 
destined to furnish mankind with examples, have pass- 
ed through all the stages of political existence, from 
barbarism to refinement, and from refinement to bar- 
barism. 

We are willing to suppose, that the European 
colonists found the aboriginal tribes as they are de- 

than the other. Future research may determine these controversies; but 
we are not prepared to make up our minds, until we have, from the Five 
Nations, such an account of themselves as Mr. Heckewelder has given us of 
their enemies. Every tribe of red men, like every nation of whites, exalts 
its own importance above that of all others ; and, while we now learn, that 
the Indians north of the Potomack were colonies of the Lenape, the his- 
torians of New England have told us, that the tribes, in that quarter, were 
the parents, and those at the south, their children 



GXX THE ABORIGINES. SEC. II. 

scribed in the course of this section; — not^, indeed, 
upon terms of the most perfect friendship with each 
other; but seldom finding occasion for violent hostiUty; 
— living chielly upon maize, beans, and other vegeta- 
bles; and only resorting to the chaise to diversify their 
food, or to procure themselves apparel. Some of the 
early settlers came, in the first place, without adequate 
provision: some were so improvident as to exhaust 
their stores, without taking measures for new supplies; 
and others thought it unnecessary to plant and sow 
themselves, since force or negotiation might obtain 
the crops of the Indians. ' Pious violence' was the 
doctrine of the day; and, if the aborigines refused to 
part with their corn, in an amicable manner, the colo- 
nists devastated their fields, and despoiled their gran- 
aries. War was the consequence: the Indians would 
no longer plant fields, which they could scarcely ex- 
pect to reap; and they were, therefore, driven io the 
necessity of looking, for future subsistence, to the 
rivers and the forests. 

But the animals upon their own hunting grounds, 
would be insufficient to support so numerous a popu- 
lation, as had been created by almost inexhaustible 
stores of vegetable food. Hunger would induce them 
to encroach upon the grounds of their neighbours; 
another war ensues: insecurity compels the second 
tribe to neglect their agriculture: the process of en- 



SEC. II. THE ABORIGINES. CXXl 

croachment is repeated; and thus, one string being 
snapped, the discord runs through tlie whole Indian 
commonwealth. The red men were, at the same 
time, plunged into hostilities with the whites, with 
their own brethren, and with the wild beasts. Their 
old habits would no longer suit their circumstances. 
Their houses must be mere temporary abodes; their go- 
vernment, submission to the strongest of the stronger 
sex; their apparel, such as they could rob from the 
beasts; their fetes, the dance of war; their ceremo- 
nies, the bloody ritual of the stake and the hatchet. 
How is a people to help becoming savage, when thus 
at war with tlie whole living creation ? 



P 



CXXil THE ABORIGINES. SEC. UI. 



SECTION III. 

More certain History. — Names, Numbers, and Situation of the 
Indians — Their Policy — Government — Religion — Manners 
and Customs — Languages — Causes of their Depopulation 
—Policy of the Federal Government towards them. 

^VHATEV'ER opinion may be formed, upon the 
origin or revolutions of the aborigines, it will be 
agreed by all, that their numbers were once incal- 
culably greater than they are at present. It would be 
impossible to ascertain the precise amount; and even 
our approximations to the truth, must be vague and 
distant. The abundance of food in the United States, 
particularly, would, of course, create a numerous po- 
pulation; and De Soto's historian mentions one island 
in the Mississippi, which contained five thousand in- 
habitants, and one city, on its banks, which had six. 
The other towns were populous; but we have no de- 
finite account of their number, or of their distances 
from each other; and, when we mention 400,000 as 
the number of the early aborigines, on this side of 
the Mississippi, and 40,000,000 as that of the whole 
continent, we must be understood to deal more in 
conjecture than in calculation. In 1606, Virginia 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES, CXXIU 

contained one Indian to every square mile; and, if we 
adopt the same ratio for the other states, there must 
have been, at that time, about a milHon in all.* The 
warriors are estimated at three in ten; and, accord- 
ingly, the whole number would be 300,000. This cal- 
culation may now seem extravagant; but, when the 
reader is told, that, in Connecticut, where an Indian 
has become a wonder, there were once from twenty to 
thirty thousand, he will probably think it short, rather 
than beyond, the truth. 

We may divide the Indians of the United States, 
as the United States are themselves divided, — into 

» District of Maine, . - . . . 40,000 

Vermont, - 10,000 

New Hampshire, ..... 10,000 

Massachusetts, - . . - . 6,000 

Rhode Island, 1,600 

Connecticut, - . . . . 4,700 

New York, ...... 45,000 

New Jersey, ..... 8,300 

Delaware, 2,000 

Pennsylvania, 47,000 

Ohio, 40,000 

Maryland, ...... 14,000 

Virginia, 70,000 

Kentucky, ...... 50,000 

North Carolina, 48,000 

Tennessee, - 40,000 

South Carolina, 24,000 

Georgia, - 62,000 

Mississippi Territciy, .... 9,000 



CXXIV THE ABORIGINES. SEC. III. 

northern, eastern, middle, and southern. The first 
are the Six Nations; the second and third, the Dela- 
wares; and the fourth, the various nations below the Po- 
tomack. The Delawares and Five Nations, if we may 
believe a tradition of the former, sprung from the same 
stock; started upon a crusade to the east, at nearly 
the same time; and, for a long period after their esta- 
blishment in their new territories, were the only na- 
tions in the northern, eastern, and middle districts, 
who were permitted to light a council fire, or hold a 
general congress. The Delaware branch was twice 
subdivided. A part remained in their original coun- 
try: a part halted on the way, this side of the Missis- 
sippi; and the rest, consisting of nearly half the parent 
nation, advanced by degrees, until they reached the 
river Delaware, or Lenapewihittuck. This division 
called itself Lenni Lenape, or 'the first people;' but, 
among the northern, western, and southern Indians, 
they were known by the name of the Wapanachki; 
which, according as it is written by ditferent European 
authors, becomes Apenaki, Openagi, Abenaquis, and 
Abenakis.* 

* Mr. Heckewelder's History contains many illustrations of our remarks 
upon the subject of etymolog'y. The Delawares, for instance, do not pro- 
nounce r, f, or V; and, on the other hand, they have a species of con- 
sonant, which is uttered in a soft whistle, and can only be represented by 
-.(• or -wh. Pp. 27, 28. In relating their wrongs to the author, they said, 
^hat, 'when the Yengeese arrived x\i J\^nchHkch~vanne.; they looked about,, 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. CXXV 

The second subdivision was into the Unamis, or 
Turtle; the Unalachtgo, or Turkey, and the Minsi, or 
Wolf. The two former occupied the grounds between 
the sea coast and mountains: the latter, whose name 
has been corrupted into Monseys, and whose symbol 
of nationality seems to have been rightly chosen, ex- 
tended themselves from their council lire, at Minisink, 
to the Hudson, on the east; westward, beyond the 
Susquehannah; north, to the heads of that river and of 
the Delaware; south to the hills, known in New Jer- 
sey, by the name of Muskanecun, and in Pennsylvania, 
by those of Lehigh and Coghnewago. New branches 
sprung from these three divisions. Small settlements, 
with their chiefs, were scattered over the interior; 
and, while the Mohicans crossed the Mahicannituck, 
now Hudson River, and peopled the eastern states, the 
Nanticokes proceeded south, and fixed themselves in 
Delaware and Maryland. The nation typified them- 
selves in their council house; which, they said, ex- 
tended westward beyond the Mississippi, north to the 
head waters of the Hudson, and south to those of the 
Potomack. Nay, the claims of the Delawares do not 
end here. They tell us, in their metaphorical lan- 

Ecc' The first of these names is said to be an Indian corruption of English,- 
and hence, we are told, may be derived the ' nickname Yankees' Mach- 
tllschwanne means ' a cluster of islands, with channels every way;' and 
' the Indians think,' says our author, • that the white people have corruptee' 
the word into Massaclnisetts.' V. CO. 



CXXVl THE ABORIGINES. SEC. III. 

guagG;, that they had but one house, one fire, and one 
canoe, with the Algonkins, Kilhstenos, and others, on 
the north side of the St. Lawrence; and that, in short, 
with the exception of the Five Nations, the whole of 
North America was inhabited by tribes belonging to 
the Lenape family. 

In the meanwhile, the Maquas or Mangwes, — who 
are called Mmgoes, by the English, and Iroquois, by 
the French, — having fought their way along the lakes, 
established themselves in the territory, of which they 
still occupy a part. The overgrown power of Lenape, 
at length, made them see the necessity of union; and, 
about the middle of the seventeenth century, they 
formed that compact, known by the name of the Five 
Nations, among their neighbours, and by that of the 
Aquanoshioni, among themselves. It consisted of the 
Mohawks, who were named Sankhu ani, or Gun- 
Locks, because they first received fire-arms from the 
Europeans: the Oneidoes, or WTassone, the Stone- 
Pipe-Makers: the Onondagoes, or people, who live on 
the top of a hill: the Cayugas, or Q^ueugues, from a 
lake of that name: and the Senecas, or Mcechachtinni, 
the Mountaineers. Each of these nations was subdi- 
vided into three tribes, — the Tortoise, the Bear, and 
the Wolf; and, in all their treaties with Europeans, 
the sachems affixed, for their respective signatures, a 
representation of one of these animals. 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. CXXVll 

Of all the tribes in North America, the Aquano- 
shioni are said to be the greatest politicians. They 
spread their dominion, by arts and by arms, over a great 
part of the present United States; and the Delawares 
relate a long account of the intrigues, by which the 
'croaking frogs' annihilated the 'grasshoppers.' It 
is said to be a maxim among the Indians, that opposite 
principles should never reside together; and, accord- 
ingly, when peace is restored between two tribes, the 
proposition never comes from the side of the warriors, 
who cannot hold the pipe in one hand, and the hatchet 
in the other, — but from that of the women, wdio, by 
their songs, lamentations, and lectures, easily persuade 
the parties to abandon a contest, of which they have 
become heartily tired. When the encroachment of 
the whites had broken up the Indian community, and 
involved the several tribes in wars with each other, it 
was thought necessary, that some one nation should 
become the iconien for the whole; and, as the Dela- 
wares occupied the most central position, the Aquano- 
shioni persuaded them to assume the office, or, as they 
expressed it, to put on the petticoat. 

Our own notions or experience must not lead us 
to mistake this for a type of government. The Five 
Nations soon demonstrated, that they had only made 
women of the Delawares, in order to take advantage 
of their character, for the accomplishment of their 



CXXVIll THE ABORIGINES. SEC. III. 

ruin. They would sell the Lenape grounds to the 
English; and, when the owners remonstrated against 
the usurpation, and threatened to take revenge, they 
were told, that women should never meddle with the 
affairs of men. At other times, an emissary was sent 
by the Five Nations to kill some member of a neigh- 
bouring tribe, and leave a Lenape war-club by his 
side; and, if the Dela wares made preparations to 
meet the attack, which such an outrage necessarily oc- 
casioned, the politic confederacy would say to them, 
'Hold! you are women. It is not your business to 
carry on war; but to restore peace. Let its fight 
your battles. Repair to sucli a place, at such a time; 
and you shall be the spectators of the manner, in 
which we will handle your enemies.' The Dela- 
wares were present, at the appointed hour and place; 
but, if they found any of the Five Nations, it was ia 
the ranks of the foe; and they were only driven home, 
with great loss, to suffer the same abuses, and fall 
into the same traps.* 

Such is their own account. Like every fallen 
people, tliey would lay the blame of their declen- 
sion upon any shoulders but their own; and seek 
a consolation for their present insignificance, by fram- 
ing stories of their former greatness. In our only 

* Bart. New Views, p. xxv. et seq. — Heckeweldeu's Hist. Introd. 
and chap, i, ii, iii, iv, v. 



a.EC. m. THE ABORIGINES. CXXIX 

history of the Five Nations, we are not told, that 
they and the Delawares emigrated from the west; 
nor do we find the latter even mentioned, till about 
the middle of the eighteenth century. The former 
seem, indeed, to have come from the east, rather than 
the west. They were settled around the present site 
of Montreal, in 1 603 ; and the lands, which they now 
occupy, then belonged to the Satanas, or Shaouonons, 
They were, at first, chiefly an agricultural people; 
and procured their supplies of meat from the Adi- 
rondacks, a nation of hunters, who lived three 
hundred miles above Trois Rivieres. One season, the 
game fell short; and the Five Nations, having sent 
some of their young men to assist the Adirondacks, 
they soon became so expert in hunting, that the latter 
grew envious, and murdered them. Hostilities were 
the consequence; but the Five Nations knew little 
of war; and, before they would adventure to attack 
the Adirondacks, they tried their skill and courage 
upon the Satanas. Having subdued these, they fell 
upon the former; and, after a little practice, grew 
strong and skilful enough to drive their enemy, and 
carry the war into his own territorities. Champlain, 
the first French governor, took part with the Adiron- 
dacks; and, in a battle, on the shores of the lake, 
which has since borne his name, the novelty of his 
weapons soon put the Five Nations to flight. But 



CXXX THE ABORIGINES. SEC. III. 

the Adii'oudacks relied too much upon the efficacy of- 
fire arms: they forsook theh- usual modes of warfare, 
and rushed, without order, upon their enemies; who 
contented themselves with acting upon the defensive: 
and, by cunning and well timed stratagems, made the 
very power of their assailants a means of their final 
defeat. When the French first landed in Canada, 
there were fifteen hundred fighting men of the Adi- 
rondacks, about Q,uebec. Probably there is not, at 
this day, a single individual to be found.* 

Such, according to their own account, is the 
early history of the Five Nations. Like the Delawares, 
they once thought themselves the greatest nation 
under heaven; and, when some of the Adirondacks, a 
long time after their overthrow, succeeded in killing 
a chief of their old enemies, he exclaimed with his 
last breath, ' Must I, who have made the whole earth 
tremble before me, now die by the hands of chil- 
dren!'! The extravagant stories of the Lenape family 
may be easily explained. Many of the northern, 
western, and southern tribes, called themselves, ' chil- 
dren' or 'grand children' of the Delawares; and these 
names, which only bespeak a political connection, 
havp been mistaken for the evidence of a relationship 
by blood. The first notions of government are taken 
from the authority of a father, in his own household; 

* Coibeh's Hist. Five Nat. part i. chap. i. f Ibid. p. 196. 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES, CXXXl 

and, whenever the Indians form a confederacy, they 
appoint one tribe to be the ' father/ or ' eldest bro- 
ther/ while the others take the name of 'sons.'* 
The idea is sometimes carried still farther. A boy, 
taken in war, is sometimes made to supply the place 
of a husband, who has been killed; and, in such a case, 
all the children of the deceased, though they be twice 
as old as their adopted head, are careful to give him 
the name of a father, and to pay him the deference 
ofsons.f The Five Nations themselves styled the 
Delawares their cousins ;| and, if the latter were call- 
ed ' grandfather', or ' father', by any other nations, it 
can only prove that some confederacy was formed, 
of which, being the central party, they became the 
head. 

Indeed, we think it a preposterous conceit, that 
the greater part of our North American tribes, were 
descended from the Lenape family. The same na- 
tion will always speak the same language: no period 
or distance of separation can entirely obliterate its 
identity; and yet nothing is more certain, than that 
the tongues of the various tribes, within our own 
boundaries, are radically different from each other. 
The account itself, of the mode, in which the Lenape 
spread its branches over the continent, has an air of 
obscurity, which only belongs to romance. ^The 

• Heckew. p. 80. t Com, p. 9. ± Ibid. App. p. 64. 



CXXXll THE ABORIGINES. SEC. IIL 

Mohicans, in the east/ say they, ' had, by intermar- 
riages, become a detached body, mixing two lan- 
guages together, and forming out of the two a dialect 
of their own/ ' New tribes again sprung from them, 
who assumed distinct names: still however notbreak- 
ing off from the parent stock, but acknowledging the 
Lenni Lenape to be their grandfather.'* Intermarry- 
ing, and mixing languages, suppose the previous ex- 
istence of a different people; and, if we are to believe 
this account, the Delawares were so prolific a race, 
that, with the same means of subsistence, the supe- 
riority of their natural increase enabled them to 
spread over the country, and root out the ancient in- 
habitants. 

The account, which the Lenape give us, of 
their decline, seems to be equally fabulous with that 
of their rise. It proves themselves more simple, than 
we are willing to believe they were; and their enemies, 
more perfidious, than has been commonly supposed. 
The Five Nations love a stratagem, in war; and will 
even prefer a trick, where plain dealing would do 
better. But they have certain notions of right and 
justice, which nothing can force them to violate; and 
we are not yet prepared to admit, that they would un- 
dertake to sell lands, to which they had no sort of 
title; or plunge a neighbour in war, by a piece of the 

* Heckew. p. 35. 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. CXXXlll 

basest cunning, and betray the cause, which they had 
promised to support. 

It would appear, that Penn bought the territory 
of the Delawares, from the Delawares themselves; 
and that, though the sale was witnessed by a regular 
deed, with the signatures of their chiefs, some of the 
tribe continued to reside upon the land so long after, as 
to make them think, that they were still the proprie- 
tors. But the first purchase included only a small 
part of their territory. In 1736, the government 
made a bargain for nearly the whole: one moiety was 
then conveyed; and, in 1742, the Six Nations and 
Delawares met at Philadelphia, for the sale of the 
other.* The Delawares were then become the abject 

* Cold. App. p. 47. This half extended from Uie southern boundary of 
Pennsylvania to the Endless Mountains; and from the western boundary 
to the Susquehanna. The price consisted of the following items : — 
500 pounds of powder, 60 kettles, 

600 pounds of lead, 100 tobacco-tongs, 

45 guns, 100 scissors, 

60 strowd matchcoats, 500 awl-blades, 

100 blankets, 120 combs, 

100 duffil matchcoats, 2000 needles, 

200 yards half-thick, 1000 flints, 

100 shirts, 24 looking-glasses, 

40 hats, 2 pounds of vermilion, 

40 pairs of shoes and buckles, 100 tin pots, 

40 pairs of stockings, 1000 tobacco-pipes, 

100 hatchets, 200 pounds of tobacco, 

500 knives, 24 dozen of gartering, and 

100 hoes, 25 gallons of rum 



CXXXIV THE ABORIGINES. SECi III. 

dependants of the Five Nations; but, whether they had 
fallen by intrigue, or by war, is a question, upon which 
they totally differ. It was at this council, that the 
lieutenant-governor of Pennsylvania complained of 
the Delawares, for still holding possession of their 
lands; and the speech of an Onandaga chief to that 
tribe, contains the only glimpses, from the Five Na- 
tions themselves, of the former relations between the 
two confederacies.* 

The Indians said, that this was hardly enough ; and the lieutenant-' 
governor afterwards made an addition of about half the amount. 

* Cold. App. 78. The specimens of Indian eloquence, hitherto ad- 
duced, have generally related to some mournful event ; and are more dis- 
tinguished for beauty of metaphor than vigour of thought. The one, 
which we are about to copy, was delivered upon an occasion of business : 
it has a strength and boldness, which we shall seldom find equalled ; and 
compresses so much matter into a few sentences, that, perhaps, it can 
hardly be entitled to the name of a speech. After promising the lieutenant- 
governor, that his wishes should be gratified, the speaker turned to the 
Delawares: — 

'Cousins, 

' Let this belt of wampum serve to chastise you. Vou ought to be 
taken by the hair of the head and shaken severely, till you recover your 
senses and become sober. You don't know what ground you stand on, 
nor what you are doing. Our brother Onas' cause is very just and plain, 
and liis inlentions are to preserve friendship. On the other hand, your 
cause is bad; your heart far from being upright; and you are maliciously bent 
to break the chain of friendship with our brother Onas, and his people . 
We have seen with our eyes a tleed sign'd by nine of your ancestors above 
JfiJj years ago, for this very land, and a release sign'd, not many years since, 
by some of yourselves and chiefs now hving, to the number of fifteen or 
upwards. — But how came you to take upon you to sell land at all i" We 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. CXXXV 

There is, undoubtedly, some truth in the accounts, 
which we have now been examining; but, with our 
present lights, it is impossible to distinguish, what is 
fact, from what is fiction ; and, in the little, which we 
have to add, upon the subject, it will be the safest to 
give such brief statements of the numbers and situa- 

conquered you ; we made women of you ; you know you are women ; and 
can no more sell land than women : nor is it fit you should have the power 
of selling lands, since you would abuse it. This land that you claim has 
gone thro' your guts ; you have been furnished with cloths, meat, and 
drink, by the goods paid you for it ; and now you want it again, like chil- 
dren as you are. — But what makes you sell land in the dark.? Did 
you ever tell us, that you had sold this land .■' Did we ever receive 
any part, even the value of a pipe-shank, from you for it ? You have 
told us a blind story, that you sent a messenger to us to inform us of 
the sale ; but he never came aoiongst us; nor we never heard any thing 
about it. This is acting in the dark; and very different from the conduct 
our Six Nations observe in the sale of land. On such occasions, they give 
public notice, and invite all the Indians of their united nations ; and give 
them all a share of the present they received for their lands. This is the 
behaviour of the wise united nations. — But we find that you are none of 
our blood : You act a dishonest part : Your ears are ever open to slander- 
ous reports about our brethren : You receive them with as much greedi- 
ness as lewd women receive the embraces of bad men. And for all these 
jeasons we charge you to remove instantly. We don't give you the liberty 
to think about it. You are women. Take the advice of a wise man, and 
remove instantly. You may return to the other side of the Delaware, where 
you came from : But we den't known, whether, considering how you have 
demean'd yourselves, you will be permitted to live there ; or whetheryou 
have not swallowed that land down your throats, as well as the land on 
this side. We therefore assign you two places to go, either to Wyomen 
or Shamokin. You may go to either of these places ; and then we shall 
liave you more under our eye, and shall see how you behave. Don't de- 
liberate ; but remove away, and take this belt of wampum.' 



CXXXVl THE ABORIGINES. SEC. Ill, 

tioii of the Indians, as may be derived from strangers, 
rather than themselves. It must not be supposed, 
liovvever, that the accounts of strangers are perfectly- 
free from obscurity and contradiction. We have never 
had the misfortune to investigate any subject, upon 
which the testimonies are so doubtful in themselves, 
and so irreconcilable with each other. The same tribe 
goes by many dilTerent names; and each author has 
his peculiar orthography. The Indians have often 
shifted their places of abode, since the Europeans 
began their settlements: some nations have traversed 
the whole extent of the United States; and the inter- 
mixtures, occasioned by these removals, have made 
it almost impracticable to keep sight of any particular 
tribe. 

The District of Maine was occupied by the Tar- 
rateens; who appear to have been divided into two con- 
federacies, — the Norridgewocs, upon the upper part 
of the Kennebec; and the Penobscots, upon the river, 
which bears their name. The greater part of the 
former emigrated to Canada, before its reduction; but 
the latter accepted the promise of protection from the 
English. What were the original numbers of either 
tribe, we know not. In 1795, there were left, in 
the District, only seven Norridgewocs, and about 
three hundred Penobscots. They express much 
anxiety, at the prospect of extinction ; and the Romish 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. CXXXVll 

priests have taught them to maiTy young, and wean 
their infants early.* 

When New Hampshire was first settled, the re- 
mains of two nations were found upon the Piscataqua 
and its branches. According to their own account, 
they had formerly been the tributaries of the great 
Bashaba, at Penobscot; but an inroad of his people 
induced them to cast off their allegiance; and they 
were now ruled by Passaconaway, the Sagamore of 
Penacook; whose title to empire was founded upon 
hisf supposed ability to set water on fire, cause trees 
to dance, make a dry leaf green, and create a living 
serpent from the skin of a dead one. A pestilence 
nearly annihilated this tribe, a short time before they 
were found by the English :| the few, that survived, 

* Sullivan's Hist. Dist. Maine. Bost. 1795. 

f This disease occasionally prevailed in all parts of the continerif. 
' Within a league and a half,' of Cutifachiqui, says De Soto's historian, 
' were great towns dispeopled, and overgrown with grass ; which showed 
that they had been long without inhabitants. The Indians said, that, two 
years before, there was a plague in that country, and that they removed 
to other towns ?' p. 53. Carter found it, in 1535, among the northern 
tribes ; and he has given a description of its symptoms, which, for disgust- 
ing fidelity, is only equalled by Thucydides' account of the plague. He 
says, *it began to spread amongst us after the strangest sort, that ever 
was either heard or seen, inasmuch as some did lose all their strength, 
and could not stand on their feet, and did their legs swell, their sinews 
shrink as black as any coal. Others also had their skins spotted with 
spots of blood and purple colour : then did it ascend up to their ankles, 
knees, thighs, shoulders, arms, and neck,' &c. Hack, Voy. vol. iii. p. 226. It is 

T 



CXXXVlll THE ABORIGINES. SEG. Ill 

soon disappeared; and we have not been able to as- 
certain their numbers at any particular period.* 

Vermont, or, at least, a part of it, seems to have 
been once the property of the Five Nations. Such of 
this people as were converted into what were called 
Praying Indians, by the Jesuit Missionaries, formed the 
village of Caughnewagah, at the falls of St. Louis, near 
Montreal!; and, in 1 798, they sent a deputation, to claim 
the territory bounded on the west, by Lake Cham- 
plain; north, by the Missisque; east, by the highlands, 
which divide the tributaries of the Connecticut from 
those of Champlain; and south, by a line drawn from 
those highlands to Ticonderoga. A committee re- 
ported, that the Indians had a title, in former times; 
and the governor was requested to inform them, that, 
'when they shall exhibit clear and circumstantial 
proofs, that the claim they now make is founded on 
the unerring and unalterable rules of justice, and shall 
produce therewith the necessary documents, author- 
ising this state to treat with them, they will find their 
brethren of Vermont ready and willing to maintain 

a curious factj that, though many of Carter's men fell victims to this disease, 
the agents of Fernando Gorges lived among the infected Indians of New 
Hampshire, 'without so much as feeling their heads to ache the whole 
time.' Belknap's Hist. N. H. vol. i. p. 121. This disease alone is said to 
have reduced the Plymouth Indians from three thousand to three hundred 
TBVMBtJiL's Indian Wars. 

• Belknap's Hist. N. Hamp. vol. i. ch. v. 

f Smith's Hist. N. Y. p. 15. They were joined by a body of Mohicans 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. CXXXix 

inviolable the most friendly intercourse with the In- 
dians of the Five Nations, and to do and perform all 
those acts of kindness and generosity, which their 
strong principles of justice cannot fail to inspire.' 
His excellency was also requested to investigate their 
claim; and, at the next session of the legislature, he 
communicated the result of his inquiries. ' It is 
believed,' he said, that the Cognahwagahs formerly 
joined the French; and, as the French were subdued 
by the English, the claim of the Five Nations was 
extinguished by the right of conquest. Again, ' these 
Indians' were the allies of the English, during the 
American war; and they accordingly lost their land, 
by the treaty of 1783. The legislature, therefore, 
resolved to notify the Indians, that, after ' taking all 
possible care' in examining the subject, they were 
' fully of opinion,' that, though the claim once existed, 
it had been ' long since done away.'* 

In Massachusetts, there were several distinct na- 
tions of Indians: — The Pawkunnawkutts, or Pocka- 
nockets, in Old Plymouth; the Massachussetts, or v 
Abergineans, in Suffolk, Norfolk, and the southern 
parts of Middlesex; the Pacotucketts, and their depen- 
dencies, in Essex and the northern parts of Middle- 
sex; the Nashaways in the northern, and the Nip- 
mucks, or Nipents, in the southern, parts of Worces- 

* Whliams' Hist. Vermont, vol. ii. pp. 283-4, 290-1. 



Cxl THE ABORIGINES. SEC. III. 

ter. There were many tribes scattered along the 
Connecticut; and the western portion of the state 
was occupied by branches of Mohicans. The pesti- 
lence destroyed great numbers of the Indians in Mas- 
sachusetts, between the years 1612-13; and no enu- 
meration was made of any of the tribes, until 1685; 
when it was ascertained, that the Pockanockets, ex- 
clusive of children, amounted to 1439.* 
y Rhode Island was inhabited by the Narragansetts; 
who seem to have been chiefly a commercial people. 
They exceeded all their neighbours in the manufacture 
of wampompeag, pendants, bracelets, stone tobacco 
pipes, and earthen vessels; and, procuring furs from 
distant nations, in exchange, they sold them to the 
English, at an advanced price. Some of their own 
nation asserted, that they could once number five 
thousand warriors. In 1620, they were estimated at 
three thousand five hundred; but they had dwindled 
to two thousand, in 1670; and, five years after- 

* Hvtchinson'*s Hist. Mass. vol. i. pp. 349-456. The Plymouth Indians 
may serve as an example of the whole : — 



Tbibes. 


ZS^UMBEUS. 


Tribes. 


Numbers. 


Pawnuts, 


264 


Manimats, 


110 


Manamayets, 


115 


At Saltwater Pond, 


90 


SackatuckettSj 


121 


Titicuts, 


70 


Matukusus, 


70 


Namatakusets, 


40 


Scantons, 


51 


Moxisset, 


85 


Mashpus, 


141 


Cooxit, 


120 


Siickanessifst 


ro 


Scemits, 


90 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. CxH 

wards, the destruction provoked by Philip^s war, re- 
duced their whole number of souls to less than one 
thousand.* 

Next to the Narragansetts, in Connecticut,! were 
the Piquods; who formed twenty-six principalities; 
and occupied the counties of Waterford, New Lon- 
don, Groton, and Stonington. They were inferior 
to the Narragansetts, in number; but much their 
superiors in strength and bravery; and they used to 
laugh at their neighbours, for degrading themselves to 
the contemptible business of making pots and to- 
bacco pipes. Probably the fighting men of the Pi- 
quods never exceeded a thousand; yet their warlike 
character gave them a predominance over the others; 
and Philip, their king, was at the head of the con- 
federacy, in 1670, which involved all his neighbours 
in destruction. 

The territory between the Hudson and Connecticut 
rivers, as far north as the foot of Lake Champlain, 
appears to have been possessed by the Mohicans; who 
were called Moheganders, or Mahikanders, by the 
Dutch; Mourigans and Mahingans, by the French; and 
Mohiccons, Mohuccans, Mohegans, Muhheekanews, 
Schatikoohs, Stockbridge, and River Indians, by the 

* Hutch. Hist. Mass. vol. i. p. 458. — Thumb. Hist. Conn. vol. i ch. ii. — 
Gookin's Ind. Coll. in Mass. Hist. Coll. vol. i. 

+ Formerly written Quonehtacut and Quonehtifiuot. 



U- 



CXlii THE ABORIGINES. SEC. Ill, 

English. One asserts them to have been ' a people 
of a different nation and language' Irom any of the 
other Indians in New England;* another makes them 
the same with the Piquods;f and a third finds their 
language among all the eastern tribes. J Whatever 
may be the truth of these deductions, there is no 
doubt, that the Mohicans were once very numerous. 
In 1670, there were, in Windsor alone, ten different 
tribes; who could muster two thousand warriors. It 
was about the year 1784, that a colony settled at 
Stockbridge, in Massachusetts; where they resided till 
1787; and then emigrated to Oneida. In 1793, the 
whole number of the Mohicans did not exceed three 
hundred souls. Some fled to Canada: others removed 
to Ohio; and not a single individual is now to be found, 
in their ancient territories.^ 

There were many tribes on Long Island; but we 
have not been able to ascertain either their names, or 
their numbers. The greater part of New York was 
inhabited by the Five Nations; who, according to their 
own account, came voluntarily from about Montreal ;|| 
but, if we are to believe others, they were driven from 

* Hutch. Mass, vol. i. p. 457. 

f Trumb. Conn. vol. i. p. 28. 

i Mass. Hist. Coll. vol. ix. p. 77. 

^ TauaiB. Conn. vol. i. ch. ii. — Hp-ckew. Hist, pp, 77, 78. 

',[ Cor.D. pt. i. ch. i. 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. clxiil 

their paternal seats, by the Adirondacks.* Even before 
the arrival of the Europeans, they seem to have been 
a formidable confederacy; and, when amply supplied 
with fire-arms, by the English, they spread the terror 
of their name over the whole extent of the present 
United States. f Two embassadors used to go about 
to collect tribute once in every year or two; and 'an 
old Mohawk sachem,' says their historian, ' in a poor 
blanket and a dirty shirt, might be seen issuing his 
orders with as much authority as a Roman dictator. '| 

This predominance was not gained by their num- 
bers; but by their firm union among themselves, and 
their steady alliance with the English. Their num- 
bers, however, were by no means contemptible. Some 
of the present old men remember the time, when a 
blast of the horn, on Onondaga hill, w^ould rally two 
thousand fighting men. As parties w^ere constantly 
abroad, in the prosecution of their wars, the whites 
could have no opportunity to ascertain their real 
numbers. One states the fighting men at twenty-one 
hundred and fifty, in 1677:§ another says, there were 
but twelve hundred, in 1756;|| and a third finds fifteen 
hundred, in 1760.11 

The Tuscaroras, it is said, were constituted the 

* Smith's N. Y. p. 43. § Chaimer's Polit. Ann. p. 606. 

t CoiD. p. 36. 11 Smith's N. Y. p. 34. note. 

- Cold. Introil.p. 4 ^ DoufiLAss' Hist. Mass. 



CXliv THE ABORlGlNEb. SEC. III. 

Sixth Nation, because their language appeared to be 
similar to that of the others;* and it may have been 
for the opposite reason, that the Stockbridge Indians, 
though six times as numerous, were not admitted to 
the same distinction. According to an accurate cen- 
sus, in 1719, the whole Six Nations were found to 
contain six thousand three hundred and thirty per- 
sons.f The Mohawks, (called Annies by the French,) 
were, at first, the 'fathers' of the family; and resided 
about forty miles west of Albany, on the south side of 
the river, which still bears the name.f They have 
entirely disappeared from their ancient residence; but, 
in 1794, there were three hundred still left in Canada. 
The Oneidas are the eldest son. Their castle, which, 
like the others, was formerly enclosed with palisades, 
is about one hundred miles westward from Albany; 
and their numbers, in 1794, were six hundred and 
twenty-eight, at their old abode, and four hundred 
and sixty, in Canada. The third son was the Onan- 
dagoes; who are between thirty and forty miles west 
of the Oneidas; and, in 1794, amounted to four hun- 
dred and fifty. The Cayugas, or fourth son, dwelt 
upon the lake, which retains their name; and had 
dwindled to forty souls, in 1794. The Senecas, for- 
merly the youngest son, were two hundred and forty 

* Smith's N. Y. p. 35. note. ? Cold. App. p. 1". 

+ Morse's Geog. 1812. vol. i. p. s"36. 



SEC. Ill, THE ABORIGINES. GXlv 

miles from Albany; and, in the same year, could still 
muster seventeen hundred and eighty warriors. The 
Tuscaroras are now the youngest son. They are divided 
between the Oneidas and Onondagas; and, in 1794, 
had four hundred souls. The Stockbridge or Bro- 
thertowu Indians then amounted to twenty-three hun- 
dred and thirty; and had their settlement in the neigh- 
bourhood of the Oneidas.* By holding the absolute 
sway over the persons and property of many surround- 
ing tribes, the Five Nations have been enabled to 
continue their existence, as a body, much longer than 
their neighbours; but they are now following the way, 
which the others have led ; and a few years will pro- 
bably relieve the whites of their presence. 

Little is known of the tribes, which originally oc- 
cupied Nova Cassaria, or New Jersey; but it is cer- 
tain, that the first governor purchased the land of the 
Indians; and that they felt themselves sufficiently 
powerful to resist the acquisition of their territory, in 
any other manner. When one of the early settlers 
of Middletown, had begun to erect his house, upon 
ground, for which nothing had been paid, a party of 
the aborigines seized hold of the posts and frame; 
asserted the building to be theirs; and vowed to drive 
off his cattle, and burn his hay, unless he would give 

* Clinton's Discourse before the N. Y. Hist, Soc. 1811. — Coin. App. 
pp. 13, 14.— Heckt.w. p. 80. 



CXlvi THE .ABORIGINES. SEC. III. 

them a satisfactory price.* The Indian name of New 
Jersey was Scheyichbi;f and its native inhabitants are 
said to have been 'distinguished from the back In- 
dians, who were a more warhke race, by the general 
name of the Delawares.'| It is difficult, however, to 
know where the line must be drawn. Some tribes 
had only an occasional residence; and others were 
common to New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jer- 
sey. Such as were peculiar to the latter, amounted 
to thirty-two; and their whole number of souls was 
probably ten thousand.§ The king of the Raritons, 
in the north, had his residence, it is said, upon a square 
rock, two miles in circuit, and one hundred and fifty 

* Smith's Hist. N. J. p. 65. f Heckew. p. 32. 

t Smith's N. J. p. 136 The remark seems to have been well founded. 
A murder, among modern Indians, can only be expiated by blood; but, 
with the aboiugines of New Jersey, it was sufficiently atoned for, by pre- 
sents ; and, as another remarkable difference between the two races, the 
price of a woman was double that of a man. Ibid. p. 141. 

§ Smith, N. J. pp. 29, 30. note. The order of the tribes, in the \ov,e\ 
extremity, was as follows : — 
^' Tribes. Wahriohs. 

Kechemeches, ..... 50 

Maritises, 100 

Seckoneses, — 

Asoomaches, 100 

Esewonecks, 40 

Ramocks, - 40 

Axions, 200 

Calafars, 150 

Massellans, 200. 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. CXlvil 

feet high; accessible only by a narrow entrance, which 
was guarded by two hundred men.* 

A part of New Jersey was formerly claimed by the 
Swedes; who, according to their own account, 'pur- 
chased of the natives all the land from Cape In Lopen, 
in the bay, unto the great fall up the Delaware.'! 
The north line was in latitude 39° 40'; and the pur- 
chase embraced both sides of the river. We have no 
further account of the Indians in Delaware. Their 
chief sachem seems to have been Tenecum ; but, as 
iate as 1 654, there were, at least, ten others.J 

The natives of Pennsylvania were principally the 
Delawares, or Lenapes. We have not been enabled 
either to find a list of the tribes, or to ascertain the 
extent of their dominions. Their own relations ap- 
pear to be little better than fables; and whence they 
came, or whither they have gone, are questions, 
which we never expect to see resolved. Our earliest 
authentic accounts make them the abject dependants 
of the Five Nations; who claimed their territory by 
conquest, and sold it by that title. The Asseinpinks 
formerly resided upon Stoney Creek; the Andastalias, 
near Wilmington, in Delaware; the Nishamines, in 
Bucks County; the Mantas, or Frogs, about Burling- 

* Smith's N. J. p. 31. note. 

f Hoim's Hist. New Sweedland, N. Y. Hist. Coll. vol. ii. p. 351. 

y.ld. ibid. 



CXlviii THE ABOllIGINES. SEC. III. 

ton; and the Shackamaxons, in Kensington, near Phi- 
ladelphia.* The place, where the latter now stands, 
was called Kuequenaku, or Kooekwenowkoo, 'the 
grove of long pines.'f In 1648, the Susquehannas 
had only one hundred warriors; but, with their allies, 
^ the Johnadoes and Wecannses, they could muster two 
hundred and fifty.J The Nariaticongs, Capitanashes, 
Gacheos, Poniptons, and some others, are not assign- 
able to any particular place.§ In 1742, the remnant 
of the Delawares were ordered, by the Five Nations, 
to remove to Shamokin or Wyoming ;|| but their mas- 
ters told them, that it was doubtful, whether they 
would be permitted to reside at either of those places; 
and they, at last, -accepted the invitation of the Wy- 
andots, to go and live in the west; where, in time, 
they grew so strong, that, with the countenance of 
their neighbours, they defied the Five Nations, and 
made frequent inroads upon Pennsylvania. H The 
Delawares of the west, however, are a mixture of 
many races; and, indeed, the members of the original 
nation have been scattered all over the continent. 

The tribes in the western parts of the United States, 
between the Ohio and Mississippi, have been chiefly 
formed from fragments of other nations. Those, with 

• Prouk's Hist. Pennsylv, vol. ii. pp. 294-5. § Ibid. p. 136. 

-J- Heckew. p. 130. 11 Cold. App. p. 80. 

■■t- Smith N. J. p. 30. J Heckew. pp. 66, 67- 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. CXlix 

whom we have been connected by treaty, are the Wy- 
andots, the Delawares, the Shawanese, the Miamies, 
the Potawatimies, the Ottawas, the Chi}Dpewas, the 
Piankashaws, the Kaskaskias, and the Sacks. 

The Wyandots were originally settled upon the 
St. Lawrence; and, under the name of the Q^uatog- 
hies, formed an alliance with the Adirondacks, in their 
wars with the Five Nations. When beaten by the 
latter, they fled to the south-west, and sheltered them- 
selves on an island; but their enemies discovered their 
retreat; and, as a last resource, they put themselves 
under the protection of the Potawatimies, who lived 
one day's journey to the west.* At what time they 
emigrated to their present residence, we know not 
The territory, which they formerly claimed, was 
bounded south and east, by the settlements of Ohio; 
north, by Lake Erie; and west, by the Miami of the 
Lakes. They are called Hurons, or Guyandots, by 
the French; and Delamattonos, by the Delawares.j i/ 
The proper name is said to be AhouandHte:J which 
has been corrupted into Wyandot, Junundat, and 
Wanat.§ Their whole number of warriors did not 
exceed three hundred, in 1759; and they had fallen 
to one hundred and eighty, in 1779.|| Yet their 

* CoLU. pp. 28-30. § Bart. New Views, p. xlii. 

f Ibid. p. 28. — Heckew. p. 64. I| Jeff. Notes. Quer. xi. 
t Heckew, p. 27. 



Cl THE ABORIGINES. SEC. Illr 

superior energy has given them the lead of the west- 
ern Indians; and they accordingly hold the grand 
calumet, which lights the council fires. In the late 
war, their numbers were about equally divided be- 
tween the Crane, at Sandusky, who was on the Ame- 
rican side; and Walk-in-the- Water, at Brovvnstown, 
who took part with the British.* 

It was in the year 1 768, that the greatest part of 
the Deiawares emigrated to Ohio. They had little 
inclination to be ' under the eye' of the Five Nations; 
and, when the latter attenjpted, in the year 1776 or 
1777, to form a league of all the Indians against the 
United Provinces, a Delaware chief answered their 
messenger, that his nation had daffed the symbol of 
womanhood, and must thenceforward be treated as 
men.f Their first establishment was at the mouth 
of the Auglaize; but, after the treaty of Greenville, 
they removed, by permission of the Miamies, to the 
head-waters of White River, a large branch of the 
Wabash. I They could boast of six hundred fighting 
men, in 1759; nor had they lost but one hundred, 
from that time to 1779.§ 

The Shawanese are a tribe from Georgia. Their 
residence was formerly upon the Savannah River; 

* Hist, of the late War in the W. Conn- t M'Affee's Hist. p. 43. 
try. By RobertR. M'ArFEEjp. 43. §i1^ff, No'es. Quer. xi. 

~ Baht. p. xxviii 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. cli 

which still bears their name.* Their towns were 
broken up, by a league of their neighbours; and the 
main body, taking their way to the northward, first 
established themselves upon the Ohio: whence de- 
tachments proceeded to the east, and settled among 
the Lenapes; some, in Lancaster county; some, at the 
forks of the Delaware; and some, upon the very spot, 
where Philadelphia now stands.f A party of those, 
who remained, fell, by mistake, upon the Delawares; 
and, as this circumstance created a disagreement 
between the two nations, the Shawanese had all left 
Pennsylvania, before the French war of 1756. J The 
tribe is now united; and their two largest towns are 
at Stoney Creek, a tributary of the Big Miami; and 
at Wapockanata, on the Auglaize.§ In 1759, their 
warriors were estimated at five hundred; and, twenty 
years afterwards, at three hundred. || The name is said 
to have been derived from a word, which signifies 
•south;' and it is written, Chowanoes, Savannas, Sa- 
vanucas, Shawanos, Sawanos, Sawanons, Shawnees, 
and Shawanese.lf In the late war, their chiefs were 
Tecumseh, Blackhoof, Wolf, and Lewis; the three lat- 
ter of whom were attached to the American interest.** 

* Adair's Hist. p. 340. || Jeff. Notes. Q. xi. 

f Bakt. p. xxxii. — Heckew. % Id. Ibid. — Baht. p. xxxii. — Heckew. 

pp. 69, 70. p. 69.— Coil), p. 70, note, 

1 Heckew. pp. 70, 71. ** M'Arr. p. 4.?. 
§ M'Affee's Hist. p. 43. 



elii THE ABORIGINES. SEC. III. 

The Miamies are the only trihe, who have no 
tradition of a removal from some remote part of the 
country. They were first brought into notice, under 
the name of Twightwies, by the inroads of the Five 
Nations; and, about the beginning of the eighteenth 
century, they Hved at a place, called Chicagou, at the 
foot of lake Michigan* Their principal settlements 
are now at the forks of the Wabash, thirty miles from 
Fort Wayne; and at Mississineway, thirty miles farther 
down. In 1745, they could rally four hundred fight- 
ing men; but, in 1809, chiefly by their wars with the 
Sacks and Kickapoos, their number was reduced to 
thirty.f Their present name was given them by the 
French ;J and it is sometimes spelled Miamis, and 
sometimes, Maumes. 

The Kaskaskias, the Chahokias, the Peorians, 
the Michigans, and the Temorois are all said to 
speak the Miami language, and to be branches of the 
same people.§ In 1768, the Kaskaskias had three 
hundred warriors. || The Chahokias appear to be 
the same with the Chictaghicks; who, after a war of 
six years, were formerly subdued by the Five Nations. 
In 1759, they could still call together four hundred 
warriors; and, in 1768, the number was only lessened 

* M'Aff. Hist, p. 43. — Cold. p. 72. t Cold. App. p. 21. 
App.21 — Bart. p. xxxiii. § M'Aff. Hist. p. 43 

f M'Aff, Hist, p, 43, || Jeff, Not. Q, xi. 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. cliii 

by a hundred. The French gave them the name of 
Illinois; which is sometimes written Wilhnis.* The 
Peorians live upon the river Illinois; and, in 1764, 
were eight hundred strong.f Of the Michigans and 
Temorois, we know nothing; unless, indeed, these 
names stand for the Shakies, Maynonamies, Ouir- 
consings, Kickopous, Otogamies, (Foxes,) Mascou- 
tens, Outimacks, and Musquakies; who formerly 
lived about lake Michigan; and, in 1768, are said to 
have amounted to four thousand warriors J The 
Kickapous are supposed to have been a branch of 
the Shawanese; and the name is spelled Kikabous, 
Kekkapoos, or Oucahipoues.§ In 1766, the chief 
town of the Shakies, or Saukies, had *^ regular and 
spacious streets;' and contained about ninety houses, 
built of hewn timber, neatly fitted together, and 
covered with bark so compactly joined, as to defy 
the most violent rains. || 

* Cold. p. 72. — Jeff. Q. xi. — Pkoud. ^ Id. Ibid. 

Penn. vol. ii. p. 296. § Cold. p. 89. — Baet. p. xxxiii. 

f Jeff. Q. xi. 

|] Carter's Trav. pp. 46, 47. This reminds us of the houses found by 
De Soto; and, however rude such edifices may appear, to Europeans of 
the nineteenth century, a retrospect of three or four hundred years will 
find their ancestors in dwellings of nearly the same kind. 'From the 
years 1300 to 1500,' says a writer of authority, 'in the towns of France, 
Germany, and England, they had scarce any but thatched houses; and 
the same might be said of the poorer towns in Italy .- and although those 
routitries were overrun with wood, they had not as yet learned to guard 

f 



eliV THE ABORIGINES. SEC. 111. 

The Potawatimies were once a formidable nation: 
and, since the settlement of the country, they appear 
to have emigrated to their present seats, from some 
place north of the lakes. They arrested the victori- 
ous career of the Five Nations; and compelled them 
to make an amicable adjustment of their difficulties. 
According to their own account, they came last from 
the country between Lake Michigan and the Missis- 
sippi; and their present establishments are at Chippoy 
and Tippecanoe, on the Wabash. Their warriors, 
in 1764, were three hundred and fifty; and they are 
stated at the same number in 1794.* 

The Ottawas were formerly in alliance with the 
Adirondacks; and fled to the westward, at the same 
time with the Wyandots. Their principal settlement 
was at Michilimackinack, or Teiadonderaghie: and, 
in 1779, they and the Chippewas together, could 
number five thousand four hundred and fifty warriors. 
The name is sometimes written Uttawas; but the true 
orthography is said to be W'tawas; the W being whist- 
led, according to the Indian mode.f 

against the cold, by the means of chimnies, (the kitchen excepted,) &r, 
invention so useful and ornamental to our modern apartments. The 
custom tlien was, for the whole family to sit in the middle of a smoky 
hall, round a large stove, the funnel of which passed the ceiUng.' Ax- 
debson's Hist. Commerce. 

* Cold. p. 30. — Jeff. Quep. xi. — Trumb. Ind. Wars. The Report of 
Mr. Hawkins. 

I Cold. pp. 28, 29, 73.— Jeff. Q. xi.— Hf.ckew. p. 22, note 



SEC. m. THE ABORIGINES. clv 

A line, running nearly north, from the foot of 
Lake Michigan, through the straits of Michilimacki- 
nack, divides the country of the Chippevvas from that 
of the Ottawas. The principal settlements of the 
latter are on the west side of the lake. In 1764, their 
fighting men amounted to about twenty-five hundred; 
and, two years afterwards, they were found at war 
with a confederacy of eleven wandering tribes, under 
the name of the Naudowassies. The latter had more 
than two thousand warriors; and, the numbers of the 
two nations being so nearly equal, hostilities had 
continued, with various success, for more than forty 
winters.* 

The Winnebagoes, on the lake of that name, ap- 
pear to be a different race from their neighbours. If 
we may believe their own account, they came from 
a far country, to the south: they speak a language 
totally diflferent from the other ti'ibes: they submit to 
the authority of a queen; cultivate great quantities of 
maize, beans, and other vegetables; and build their 
houses of strong and durable materials. They have 
about two hundred warriors; and, their chief town, 
which consists of sixty houses, is situated about thirty- 
five miles from Green Bay.f 

The Sacks appear to be the same with the Otti- 
gaumies; and they claim the country north of the Illi- 

* €art. Trav. pp. 29, 59, 63, 80. f Ibid. pp. 32-r>7. 



Clvi THE ABORIGINES. SEC. HI. 

nois. Vincennes was the ancient residence of the 
Piankashaws; who now live upon the Wabash. In 
1759, they had three hundred warriors; and, at the 
close of our revolution, about two hundred and fifty. 
The Ouiatonons and Shakies live upon the same river, 
and may be branches of the same people. In 1768, 
the warriors of the latter amounted to two hundred; 
and, in 1779, the former counted three hundred.* 

We now return to Maryland, according to our 
division; which, like most divisions of the same kind, 
has little foundation but caprice. Lord Baltimore's 
land was held by what is called petit sergeanty: — he 
was to render yearly a certain number of Indian ar- 
rows. When his first governor landed, in 1634, he 
gave an entertainment to the kings, or werowances, of 
the aborigines; and the two leading tribes, at that time, 
appear to have been the Petuxents and the Yoama- 
coes.f The Eastern Shore was occupied by the 
Nanticockes; who, about the middle of the last cen- 
tury, removed to Wyoming, on the Delaware. Joining 
the British in the revolutionary war, they went into 
Canada. When the contest had terminated, they 
assembled upon the Huron River; and, finding them- 
selves dwindled to fifty souls, they united their fortunes 
with the Shawanese.J 

* Cahv. Trav. p. 39;— M'Aff. Hist, p, 43, — Thumb. Ind. War. — Jeff. Q. xi, 
I BozMAs's Hist. Maryl. pp. 27' 5-6. t Heckew. pp. 73-77. 



SEC. ni. 



THE ABORIGINES. 



clvii 



The first settlers of Virginia found the territory 
occupied by three extensive confederacies, — the Povv- 
hatans, the Mannahoacs, and the Monacans; who 
spoke languages so radically different, that it was ne- 
cessary to employ interpreters in the transaction of 
their business. Pains were early taken to preserve 
some account of these tribes; and, as a specimen of 
the mode in which the whole continent was originally 
peopled, w^e copy from the Notes on Virginia, the 
subjoined table of the Powhatans: 



TRIBES. 


COUNTRY. 


WARRIORS, i 


1607 1 


1669 


Tauxenents 


Fairfax 


40 




Patowomekes 


Stafford. King George 


100 




Cuttatawomans 


King George 


20 > 


60 


Pissasecs 


King Geo. Richmond 


Onaumanients 


Westmoreland 


100 




Rappahanocs 


Richmond county 


1.00 


30 


Moraughtacunds 


Lancaster. Richmond 


80 


40 


Secacaonies 


Northumberland 


30 




Werowocomicos 


Northumberland 


130 


70 


Cuttatawomans 


Lancaster 


30 




Nantaughtacunds 


Essex. Cai'oline 


150 


60 


Mattapoments 


Mattapony River 


30 


20 


Pamunkies 


King William 


300 


50 


Werowocomicos 


Gloucester 


40 




Payankatonks 


Piankstank River 


55 





:lviH 



THE ABORIGINES. 



SEC. Ill, 



TRIBES. 


COUNTRY. 


WARRIORS. ( 


1607 


1669 


Youghtanunds 


Pamunkey River 


60 




Chickahominies 


Chickahominy River 


250 


60 


Powhatans 


Henrico 


40 


10 


Arrohatocks 


Henrico 


30 




Weanocs 


Charles city 


100 


15 


Paspaheghes 


Charles city. James city 


40 




Chiskiacs 


York 


45 


15 


Kecoughtans 


Elizabeth city 


20 




Appamattocs 


Chesterfield 


60 


50 


Quiocohanoes 


Surry 


25 


3 Follies 


Warrasqueaks 


Isle of Wight ^ 






Nasamonds 


Nansamond i 


200 


45 


Chesapeaks 


Princess Anne | 


100 




Accohanocks 


Accom. Northampton 


40 


1 


Accomacks 


Northampton 


80 


1 



Eight hundred square miles, thirty-two tribes, and 
two thousand four hundred warriors, most probably 
constituted the ratio in all our aboriginal nations. 
The tribes of the Mannahaacs were thus distributed: 
v/ in Fauquier county, the Whonkenties and Tauxitan- 
tians; in Culpepper, the Tegninaties and Hassi- 
nunga3s; in Orange, the Ontponies and Stakerakies: 
in Stafford and Spotsylvania, the Shackakonies and 
Manahoakes. Of the Monacans, the tribe, which 
gave name to the confederacy, resided on James 
River, above the falls; the Monassiecapanoes, in 
Louisa and Fluviana; the Mnahassanoes, in Bed- 
ford and Buckingham; the Massicanaes, in Cum- 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. cHs 

berland; and the Mobemeiiclioes, in Povvhatan. It 
was the Monacans, who, under the name of Tus- 
caroras, or Tuskeruroes* were beaten by the Caro- 
linians, in 1712; and have since formed the 'youngest 
son' in the family of the Six Nations. 

Besides these three confederacies, there were the 
three tribes of the Nottoways, on tlie river of that 
name; and the Meherrins and Tutelocs, on the Me- 
herrin River, Of the Nottoways, not a male was left 
in 1781. The Melierrins and Tuteloes were the 
friends of the Tuscaroras; and, when the Susque- 
hannocks had disappeared, the Five Nations per- 
mitted them to occupy the vacant territory.f 

Beyond the mountains, in the territory, which is 
now the state of Kentucky, there was a very warlike 
nation, by the name of the Massawomees.| They 
were very numerous; and seem to have been equally 
hostile to the red-men, and the whites. Kentucky 
was settled in 1770; and the adventures of tho 
family, who first trusted themselves in the wilderness^, 
form a romantic tale in her early history.§ 

Some nations of Indians were common to Vir- 
ginia and North Corolina. In 1 700, there were still 

* Bart. p. xl. 

t Jeff. Notes, Q. xi. — Proud's Fennsylv. vol. ii. p. 295. 
i .Ieff. Q. xi § MAnsHAT.i's Hist. Kentv 



clx 



THE ABORIGINES. 



SEC. III. 



reniaiiiiiig, in the latter, thirteen trihes, twenty-eight 
towns, and fifteen hundred and eighty-two warriors.* 



TRIBES. 


TOWNS. 


WARKIORS. 


RESIDENCE. 


Tuscaroras 


15 


1200 


Bertie county 


Waccons 


2 


120 


Halifax on the Roanoke 


Mackapomgas 


1 


.",0 


Hyde county 


Bear-Rivers 


I 


50 


Bear River 


Meherrin 


1 


50 


Meherrin River 


Chowans 


1 


15 


Chowan county 


Pasquotanks 


1 


10 


Pasquotank county 


Poteskoits 


1 


30 


Cursituck county 


Hatteras 


I 


16 


Hatteras Banks 


Connanons 





25 




Neus 


2 


15 


Neus River 


Pamlicos, or ^ 


1 


15 


Pamlico Sound 


Pampticaughs 3 








Jaupims 


1 


6 


Jaupim River 



The remaining territory of the United States, on 
this side of the Mississippi, was occupied by the 
Natchees, the Cherakes or Cherokees, the Katahbas, 
the Chikkasahs, the Muskoghes or Creeks, aud the 
Choktahs. The Natchees, who have long since 
become extinct, were seated in the western parts of 
Tennessee. They were once very numerous; and, 
as late as the middle of the eighteenth century, with' 
stood, for a long time, two thousand French regulars, 
and a great body of Choktah warriors. Being, at last, 

* Lawsos's Hist. N. f 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. CUCl 

totally defeated, a part was burnt by the Choktahs; 
and a part sent as slaves to the West Indies.* 

In 1775, the Cherokees dwelt chiefly upon the 
head waters of the Savannah, the Catahoochee, the 
Alabama, the Tennessee, and Cumberland Rivers. 
They have a tradition, that they came from the west, 
and exterminated a certain 'moon-eyed people.'f 
Their territory was about one hundred and forty' 
miles broad, from east to west; and extended from the 
thirty-fourth to nearly the thirty-sixth degree of north 
latitude. They divided it into Lower and Upper. 
About the beginning of the last century, they had 
sixty-four populous towns; and could command more 
than six thousand warriors. Fifty years afterwards, 
their towns were probably reduced to thirty; for their 
warriors did not exceed three thousand. J Two thou- 
sand two hundred hunters were counted, in 1769; 
and, in 1793, they were estimated at fifteen hundred.§ 
In 1775, the towns west of the Appalachian moun- 
tains were Tennase, Cho^te, Great-Telliko, and 
Hewhase.|| Those, in the other parts, were 'Ish- 
tatohe, Echia, Toogala, &c.'1T The Cherakes, too, 

* Adair's Hist. Amer. Ind. pp. 355-6. ^ Adaik, pp. 226-7. 

t Ibid. p. 226. (I Ibid. p. 252. 

+ Baiit. p. xliii. 

t Such is the mode, in which Mr. Adair gives us a history of the In- 
dians. He has written four hundred and sixty-four finely printed pages, 
in quarto ; and we might safely undertake to compress, in less than a 



Clxii THE ABORIGINES. SEC. III. 

imagine themselves superior to all other men; and 
their name is accordingly derived from Clieera, the 
divine fire.* 

The Katahbas resided upon the river of the same 
name. In 1765, their territory was bounded 'north 
and north-east, by North Carolina; east and south, by 
South Carolina; and about west-south-west, by the 
Cheerake nation. 'f When South Carolina was first 
settled, the Katahba warriors amounted to fifteen 
hundred. In 1743, they were reduced to four hun- 
dred; and, twenty years after, there were but a few 
above one hundred.J The province originally con- 
tained twenty-eight tribes, of different nations ;§ and 
we are favoured with the ' mention of a few^ of the 
Katahbas: — the Waterees; 'Enowahs, Charahs, Cang- 
"^ garees, Nachees, Yamasees, Coosahs, &c.^|| They for- 
merly cultivated a great extent of ground; and one of 
their fields is said to have been seven miles in length. H 

dozen, all the definite information, which they contain. He seems to have 
been a very bigotted man; and to have had a good opinion of no mea- 
sures, but his own, and of nobody, but himself. From a resident of 
forty years among the Indians, we expected some precise account of their 
names, numbers, and situation : but, instead of such details, Mr. Adair 
writes chapter after chapter, about what the French have attempted, what 
the English might do, and what he did. Tiie historians of particular 
states are, for the most, equally delinquent. They often give us accurate 
enumerations of the plants and animals; but of man, they seldom think 
it worth while to say any thing. 

* Bart, p. xliv. § Ramsey's Hist. S. C. 

f Adair, p. 223. || Abair, p. 224. 

^ Ibid. p. 224 1 Ibid. p. 225. 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. clxiii 

The Muskohges, or Creeks^ are the most powerful v 
confederacy in the southern states. They point to 
the west, as the place of their origin; and tell a story 
of men, who had hair all over their bodies, and carried 
thunder and liglitning in their hands.* Their English 
name is derived from the multiplicity of streams, 
which supply them with food: it is a part of their po- 
licy to incorporate with themselves, such nations as 
have been driven from their paternal seats: they have 
been prompted to spend a great part of their time in 
the cultivation of their grounds; and, as a remarkable 
exception to the common progress of the tribes in 
the United States, their numbers are said to have 
doubled between 1730 and 1760.t The territory,, 
claimed by the original tribe, extends from the Tom- 
bigbee to the Atlantic; and from Florida to the thirty- 
fourth degree of north latitude. In 1775, their 
grounds were one hundred and eighty miles in length; 
and they were 'situated,' says their historian, 'be- 
tween the Cheerake, Georgia, East and West Florida, 
and the Choktah and Chickkasah nations, the one 
two hundred, and the other three hundred miles up 
the Mississippi.'! They are divided into Upper and 
Lower; and the latter have acquired the name of Se- 
minoles. In 1775, the former could assemble three 
thousand five hundred warriors; and, in 1791, both 

* Bart, p, xlvii + Adaib, p. ?59 i Ibid. p. 257, 



Clxiv THE ABOllIGINES. SEC. HI 

together had live thousand liunters. Their towns 
were stated at fifty, in 1775; and at sixty, in 1791.* 
J The names of the principal tribes were the Apalaches, 
the Alabamas, the Abecas, the Cawittaws, the Con- 
shachsL the Coosas, the Coosactees, the Chacsihoomas, 
the Natd^ees, the Oakmulgees, Oconees, Okohoys, 
Pakanas, Taensas, Talepoosas, and Weektumkas. 

The Chikkasahs and Choktahs are said to have 
crossed the Mississippi as one family; and to have been 
able, at their first settlement on this side, to summon 
ten thousand fighting men. The towns of the former 
are upon the head branches of the Mobile and Yazoo 
rivers. In 1729, they had, we are told, 'four large 
contiguous settlements, which lay nearly in the form 
of three parts of a square, only that the eastern side 
was five times shorter than the western, with the open 
part toward the Choktah. One was called Yaneha. 
about a mile wide, and six miles long, at the distance 
of twelve miles from their present towns. Another 
was ten computed miles long, at the like distance from 
their present settlements, and from one to two miles 
broad. The towns were called Shatara, Chookhee- 
reso, Hykehah, Tuskawillao, and Phalacheho. The 
other square was single, began three miles from their 
present place of residence, and ran four miles in length, 
and one mile in breadth. This was called Chookka Pha- 
raah, or the Long House. It was more populous than 

* AnAiH, p. 257. — Baet. p. xlvii. 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. clxV 

their whole nation contains at present. The remains of 
this once formidable people, make up the northern 
angle of that broken square."* In 1764, their warriors 
amounted to seven hundred and lifty; but, four years 
afterwards, they were reduced to five hundred;! and, 
in 1775, they are slated at four hundred and fifty.f 

In 1775, the territory of the Choktahs lay in the 
form of an oblong square; and it w^as only upon the 
sides, which faced the Creeks and Chikkasahs, that 
they had numerous or extensive settlements. Their 
lower towns were two hundred miles north of New 
Orleans; the upper, one hundred and fifty to the south 
of Chikkasah^ and at the same distance north of Mo- 
bile.§ The French once estimated their warriors at 
nine thousand. In 1759, they were stated to be only 
two thousand: in 1764 and 1775, they were calculated 
at four thousand live hundred; but, in 1793, their 
hunters are said to have dwindled to five or six hun- 
dred. || It was formerly a custom among the Choktahs. 
to flatten their skulls, by imposing a bag of sand upon 
the top, while infants; but, it is said, they have long 
ceased to think, that there is either beauty or virtue 
in a flat head, II 

* Adaih, p]). 352-3. The reader ulll infer, from (his passage, that, if 
our sketch of Indian history is obscure and unsatisfactory, the fault is not 
always to be laid at our own door. 

t Jeff. Q. xi. || Jeff. Q. xi.— An.p. 282.~BART.p.x]viJ!. 

i Adaih, p. 353. "I Bart. p. 1 

§ Ibid. p. 282. 



clxvi 



THE ABORIGINES. 



SEC. Ill 



The liidiaiis ol' Louisiana are still iinpcifectly known, l 
list of their names and numbers was constructed in 1764f bii 
the following table is the latest, and probably the most accu 

ratc.f 



NAMKS. 




.^1 


PLACES OF RESIDENCE. 


Osas^cs 








Big Osage "] 
Little Osage t 


1500 


5500 


The Osage, Missouri, and Arkansas. 


Big Track J 








Kansas 


300 


1500 


Kansas River. 


Panis 








r Loup 


400 


2000 


Platte and Kansas. 


< Republican 


350 


1600|Kansas. 


(^ Loup 


300 


1500 Wolf River. 


Mahas 


250 


800 


80 leagues above the Platte. 


Poncas 


80 


450 


Missouri at the Qui Courre. 


Ottos and Missouries 


80 


450 Platte, near the Elk Horn. 


Chienncs 


500 


1600 


Chienne, at its head. 


Arikaras 


800 


3000 


1400 miles? ^1 t\/i- 
r^r^ -1 r up the Missouri. 
600 mdes 3 ^ 


Mandans 


350 


2000 


Awahaways 


50 


300 


Above the Mandans, three miles. 


Mimtares 


600 


2500 


Knife River, six miles from Mandan. 


Watcpanetocs and ^ 
Ryuwas 3 
Padoncas 


200 
300 


yoo 

1000 


Padoncas Fork. 
Padoncas. 


Kanenawish 


1500 


5000jYellow Stone, p,t its head. 


Pastannownas 


400 


1500 


Between Pado/ftas Fork and Platte. 


Crow Indians 


2000 


7000 


C Scattered about the heads of Yellow 
\ Stone and Missouri. 


Paunch Indians 


800 


2500 


Missouri, near the head. 


Asseneboin 


900 


3500 


Three tribes, near the Missouri. 


Black Loot 


2500 


5500 


Missouri, near the head. 


Gros Ventres of the 








Prairie 
Ayutans or Camanchcs 


500 
2000 


2000 
8000 


S w ( ^^'^^ of the Missouri, 



^ Bousii'et's Acc. of his West. Exped f Brackexruiob's Views, pp. 85-88. 



EC. HI. 



THE ABORIGINES. 



clxvii 





fc. 1 


= '^■- 






^ » 






XAMES. 


i\ 


i\ 


I'l.ACES OF RESIDENCE. 


nake Indians 


900 


5500 


Heads of the Ark. Ycl. Stone, and Platte. 


lue Mud, and Long? 






Head of the Columbia. 


Haired Indians 5 


i 


lat Heads 




West side of the Rocky Mountains. 




.nistenoos 


300, 1000 


Asscnebon, and along the lakes. 


Igonquins 


1000 5000 


^ Red River of Winnipeck and heads 


hippo ways 


90jO 


4000 


\ of the Mississippi. 


aukees 


500 


2500 


Mississippi, below St. Anthony's Falls. 


oxes 


300 


2000 


With the Saukecs. 


hawanese 


300 


800 


Mississippi and St. Francis. 


yuas 


200 


600 


Riv. de Moines. 


liikkasahs and Che- > 


500 


2000 


White River. 


rokecs 5 








rkaimn<4 


200 




Arkansas. 


odoqucs 
andakoes 


1 10 




Red River, above Natchitoches. 


40 


180 


Sabine. 


ddaize 


20 


100 


40 miles from Natchitoches. 


lishes 
eyeshces 




25 
200 


Near Natchitoches. 


60 


Trinity, E. Branch. 


achees 


80 


250 


Branch of the Sabine. 


abedoches 


80 


250 


S. W. ofthe Sabine. 


edecs 


100 


320 


Trinity. 


cokesas 


80 


280 


W\of the Colorado of St. Bernard. 


[ayees 


200 




Guadaloupe, near the mouth. 




arankoas 


500 


1800 


Peninsula of Bernard Bay, 


ances 


2000 


5000 


From St. Bcrnai'd to Vera Creek. 


'anks 


200 


700 


Colerado and Trinity. 


'awakenoes 


200 


700 


200 miles N. of Nacogdoches. 


'awakeneos, or Panis 


500 


2500 


S. of Red River, above the Caddoques. 


atchitochcs 
oluxas 






^p^vlv pvtinrt 


25 


100 


60 miles below Natchitoclics. 


.ppalaches 


14 


50 


Boyou Rapide. 


labanias 










onchatees 










acanas 










.tlakapas 


> 


400 




Scattered over Louisiana State. 


ppelousas 
umcas 




ensas 










V'ashas J 










hactaws 


2000 


5500 Ditto. 1 



clxviii THE aborigines. sec. hi. 

Besides these, there are, along the shores of the 
Pacific, a number of tribes, which must fall within 
our empire. The Klaizzarts, who amount to three 
thousand souls, reside about three hundred miles 
southward of Nootka. They pluck out their eye- 
.brows, and flatten their heads'. The Wickinninish 
are about two thousand two hundred in number; 
and live at the distance of one hundred miles north 
of the Klaizzarts. Instead of flattening the top of 
the head, like the latter, they compress its sides, and 
make it resemble a sugar-loaf. The Klaooquates, 
who are the next tribe, on the north, consist of about 
twelve hundred. The Esquates have the same num- 
ber. The Nootkians count fifteen hundred; and are 
considered as the leading tribe. About forty miles 
north of them, are the Aitizzarts, who have but nine 
hundred souls. The next tribe is the Cayuquet; 
which may contain two thousand. There are many 
intervening tribes; but we have not been enabled to 
ascertain their names or numbers.* 

Distant observers are apt to represent the Indians, 
like the Cyclops, as totally destitute of policy or go- 
vernment;! vvhile those, who have too near a view, 

* Jewitt's Narr. of his Captivity in Nootka. 

f A savage kind. 

Nor tani'd by manners, nor by laws confin'd : 
Untaught to plant, to tarn the glebe and sow ; 
7'hoy all their products to fr(»e nature ov.t. 



.<fEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. clxix 

are fond of painting their state as tke most perfect, 
in both these respects, of which the nature of the 
species is susceptible. The truth never Hes m ex- 
tremes. The Indians are neither Cyclops, nor angels. 
That they have some government, it would now be 
ridiculous to deny; and that the different nations are 
capable of associating for the attainment of a joint 
object, is manifest from the whole history of the 
United States. While we were yet in infancy, they 
foresaw the inevitable consequences of our growth; 
and often formed extensive confederacies, for our 
extermination. Through all our wars with the French, 
too, they observed the invariable policy of joining the 
strongest party, or selling themselves to the highest 
bidder; and a brief review of the conduct pursued by 
the western clans, will show, tiiat, while their allies 
tendered them bribes for their co-operation, they only 
paid them for serving their own purposes. 

At the commencement of the French war, in 1756, 
they were on the side of the Canadian governors; and 
it vvas not until the capture of Fort Du Q,uesne, in 
1758, that they abandoned the French for the English. 
From that time, to the close of the revolution, they 



By these no statutes and no rights are known. 
No council held, no monarch fills the throne. 

Pope's II. b. is. 

X 



CIXX THE ABORIGINES. SEC. III. 

continued faithful to the Enghsh interest; nor was it 
till 1794, that the devastation of their country, by the 
Big Wind, (as they called General Wayne,) con- 
vinced them, that the Americans were the strongest 
party. The peace of Greenville, however, did not 
completely secure their friendship. The two leading 
chiefs, Blue Jacket and Little Turtle, had disagreed 
as to the mode of opposing General Wayne: the plan 
of the former was finally adopted; and, as it had 
eventuated in discomfiture, he was resolved to retrieve 
his character, and, in his own language, to try once 
more the strength of the Big Knife.* He found an 
able and ready coadjutor in Tecumseh; and these two 
enterprising ar\d popular leaders matured the design 
of uniting every ivibe of western Indians, in a confe- 
deracy against the ehcroachments and the civilization 
of the whites.f Blue Jacket did not live to assist in 
the execution of the project. Tecumseh took it upon 

* M'Aff. Hist. pp. 8, 9. 

t The plan was partially formed in 1807 ; when the Trout, a Chippewa 
sachem, who pretended to have been the creator of the first man, deliver- 
ed a talk on the subject, at Le Maouitinong, near the entrance of Lake 
Michigan. ' The Americans,' said he, ' I did not make. They grew from 
the scum of the great waters, when they were troubled by the Evil Spirit, 
and the froth was driven into the woods by a strong east wind. They are 
numerous; but I hate them.' And, he adds, that ' the world is broken and 
leans down ; and, as it declines, the Chippewas and all beyond will fall oft" 
and die.' Extracts of letters to the secretary of war, laid before congress, 
June 11, 1812, on a call of the committee for Indian affiiirs. 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. clxXl 

himself alone; and he declared, that he would never 
rest, until, to use his own bold language, he had erect- 
ed ' a dam' against the ' mighty water,^ which threat- 
ened to prostrate and sweep away his people.* He 
repeated this declaration on all occasions; and, that 
he might verify his menace, he visited, in person, 
nearly every tribe of Indians, from Lake Superior to 
the Gulf of Mexico.f To promote this his object, his 

* M'Aff. Hist. pp. 9-16. By the treaty of Greenville, a commumty of 
interests among- the Indians seems tohavebeen recognized. Soon after the 
first election of our third president, he instructed the governor of Ohio to 
'object to such a construction, and to negotiate with each tribe separately.' 
Ibid. p. 46. Tecumseh saw, that this policy would divide the aboriginal 
commonwealth, and beat the nations in detail. He was enraged beyond 
measure ; and, when the peace of 1809 was concluded, in his absence, he 
not only threatened, on his return, to kill ever,v chief who had signed the 
treaty, — but had well nigh killed the governor liimselfj in the council 
subsequently held at Vincennes. Ibid. pp. 12, 13, 45. The same enthusi- 
astic resolution of defending his country to the last, was apparent in all 
his future conduct; and, more particularly, in the talk delivered to the 
British commander, in October, 1813 ; when he was retreating before our 
arms. After expressing his ' astonishment to see him tying up every 
thing' for a departure, and comparing him ' to a fat animal, that carries its 
tail upon its back ; but, when affrighted, drops it between its legs and runs 
off,' — he finally tells him, that, if he will leave the Indians some arms and 
ammunition, 'he may go, and welcome ;' and concludes by saying, 'our 
lives are in the hands of the Great Spirit. AVe are determined to defend 
our lands ; and, if it be his will, we wish to leave our bones upon them.' 

■j- M'Aff. Hist pp. 14, 17. See, also, Ried's Life of Gen. Jackson, pp. 
26, 27. It is well known, that the intercourse, by runners, between the 
northern and southern Indians, has never been so frequent or so ex- 
peditiotis as it was during the late war. 



Clxxii THE ABORIGINES. SEC. Ill 

brother became inspiied by the Great Spirit to de- 
nounce whiskey, and preach against the use of blan- 
kets.* It was in the execution of the same design, 
iJiat the frontier Indians committed those acts of hos- 
tihty, which led to the battle of Tippecanoe; and, 
when we add, to the general project of opposition, 
what could only have appeared to them the pusillani- 
mity of government, in refusing every appHcation to 
repel, by force, the aggressions, which were daily 
repeated, after that battle,f we can hardly wonder, 
that they took the side of our enemy, in the ensuing 
war. The initial operations of the American forces 
were not calculated to detach them from the British 
cause; and the surrender, particularly, of Forts Michi- 
limackinac and Detroit, was sufficient to justify their 
pohcy, and confirm their choice.t 

With a blind consciousness of the disadvantages, 
under which they labour, from being unable to write 
or print their language, the Indians, in their dealings 
with other nations, have adopted various precautions 
and contrivances to prevent the mistakes of oral com- 
munication, and mental remembrance. If a mere 
verbal report is brought to a chief, he calls it the 
'song of a passing bird;' and, until it comes to him 
with an official string of wampum, he will not even 

* M'Aff. p. 10. t'bid. p. 41. ^ Ibid. pp. 70, 101. 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. clxxii) 

admit, that he has heard it.*" The Five Nations have 
a sort of artificial memory, to preserve the speeches 
made in a negotiation. The leading chief carries with 
him a bundle of sticks; and, as the opposite speaker 
finishes each paragraph, he gives it in charge to one 
of the other sachems, by handing him a stick. Not 
content with this precaution, when the leading chief 
is about to deliver his answer, he repeats himself, or 
causes to be repeated, the whole of what has been said 
on the other side.f Spies are constantly kept abroad, 
to watch the conduct of neighbouring nations; and, 
when they return with any intelligence, they sit down, 
for a few minutes, to collect themselves, and shape 
tlieir discourse.]: 

It is a very unsatisfactory description of any go- 
vernment, to say, that it is founded upon opinion. 
That opinion, which supports government, means so 
many different things, — is formed in such a variety of 
ways, and exists in such multifarious states, at differ- 
ent times, in different places, and under different cir- 
cumstances, — that, unlike most other abstractions, the 
mere word does not offord even a glimpse of illumination. 
Perhaps, however, it is most intelligible, when applied 
to the government of the Indians. It exists here, with- 
out any of those modifications, produced ])y the vo- 
luminous statutes of civilized communities; and is. 

* Heckew. p. 94-. . t Cor.Ti. p. 100. Ibid. p. 19. 



Clxxiv THE ABORIGINES. SEC. 111. 

indeed, little more than that reverence, which prowess 
and wisdom united, has always been known to inspire. 
But, as an Indian seldom believes any thing which he 
does not see or hear himself, the prowess and wisdom 
of any particular individual could not be known to 
millions; and, accordingly, it will be found, that, upon 
an average, the aboriginal nations of our continent 
seldom exceeded fifteen thousand persons. 

Each nation was divided into tribes; each tribe, into 
villages; and each village, into households. Each house 
contained several families; and, in these, age was pro- 
bably a sufficient title to authority. In the villages, and 
in the tribes, bravery and prudence only were requi- 
site; but, in managing the general concerns of the 
nation, age nmst add experience to courage and wis- 
dom. In some nations, the powers of government 
are divided; and they have their war-chiefs, and their 
peace-chiefs. In the greater part, too, the leader of 
some particular tribe is at the head of the confede- 
racy; lor, as we have already found occasion to state, 
when any of these compacts are formed, one tribe 
(and a chief always identifies himself with his tribe), 
is appointed to be the father, and the others consent 
to be his sons. Each tribe has its council-house: 
deliberations are held almost every day; and, such is 
the confidence reposed in their chiefs, that private 
individuals only inquire what they are to do, — not 
whv it should be done. 



SEC, III. THE ABORIGINES. clxXV 

There are, however, certain customs, so deeply 
rooted in the savage character, that it is impossible to 
bend or control them, in any manner. When, for 
instance, they have resolved to burn or tomahawk a 
captive, no moral power on earth can shake their pur- 
pose. They become, at once, a frantic mob; and' 
wo be unto the chief, who attempts to rescue the vic- 
tim from their clutches! We may observe, too, that, 
like all other nations, they have as much law as they 
need. Most of the laws, which swell our own statute- 
books, are made for the regulation of private property: 
but the property of the Indians is, for the most part, 
in common: almost the only question, which seems to 
have arisen upon the subject, was, whether infants 
should have as much as adults; and this has been 
wisely resolved, by giving to each individual an equal 
share, without regard to age. 

We wish, that the religion of the Indians was as 
little doubtful as their government. According to 
some, they have the most sublime notions of Deity: 
others find them grovelling in the basest superstition; 
and, if the suffrages were taken, we fear, that the 
latter would constitute the majority. ' The Indian,' 
says one, ' considers himself as a being created by 
an all-powerful, wise, and benevolent Manitto;* all 
that he possesses, all that he enjoys, he looks upon as 

* 'Being or Spirit.' 



^ 



CIXXVI THE ABORIGINES: SEC. lit. 

given to liiin or allotted for his use, by the Oreat 
Spirit who gave him life: he therefore believes it his 
duty to adore and worship his Creator and Bene- 
factor,' &c.* Now, it is a little singular, that, when 
the Swedes first landed in Delaware, the natives gave 
the same name, Manitto, to a being, which is as far 
from being all-wise, as it is from being benevolent. 
' Over against Posetquessingh,^ says their historian, 
• there useth a sort of fish there with long great 
leeth, which the Indians call Manitto, that is, the 
devil: he plungeth in the water very much, and 
spouts the water up as a whale, and the same sort is 
not seen or found elsewhere in the rrver.^f The truth, 
probably, is, that the Indians have some vague idea of 
a being, who is far superior to themselves; but their 
ideas are too apt to become definite, at the appearance 
of any extraordinary phenomenon.| 

• Heckew. p. 83. I Holm. Ap. N. Y. Coll. vol. ii. p. 348. 

t The Delawares are said to have preserved an account of whdt befel 
their ancestors, when the first Dutch ship arrived at Manhattan Island. 
They saw it at a distance, and took it to be the great Manitto. * Every mea- 
sure was taken to be well provided with meat for sacrifice. The women 
were desired to ])repare the best victuals. All the images or idols were 
examined and put in order, and a grand dance was supposed not only to 
be an agreeable entertainment to the great being; but it was believed, 
tliat it might, with the addition of a sacrifice, contribute to appease him, 
if he was angry with them. The conjurors vi^ere also set to work, to 
determine what this phenomenon portended, and what the possible 
result of it might be. Distracted between hope and fear, they were at a 



SEC. HI. THE ABORIGINES. ClxXVil 

It appears to be an absurdity to think of instilling 
into a savage, while he remains a savage, such notions 
of deity as are entertained by the Christian world. 
The whole state of an Indian, — his system of habits, 
thoughts, and persuasions, — is so completely opposed 
to that of the civilized man> that what the latter 
teaches, for one thing, the former receives, as another; 
or, if the doctrine penetrates him at all, it is only to 
be debased by an association with his own peculiar 
ideas. He mistakes the purpose of the simplest 
objects. When Sir Francis Drake put manicles 
upon a Patagon, in order to carry him away, the 
unsophisticated being supposed them a most magni- 
ficent decoration, and could only express his delight 
in an obstreperous roar.* The Dutch, on their arrival 
at New York, supplied the Indians with axes, hoes, 
stockings, and other articles. They went their way: 
but returned, in the following season, with the axes 
and hoes suspended from their necks, as ornaments, 
and the stockings turned into tobacco-pouches.f 

loss to know what to do. A dance, however, commenced in great confu- 
sion. While in this situation fresh runners arrive, declaring it to be a 
large house of various colours, and crowded with living creatures. It 
appears now to be certain that it is the great Manitto, bringing them 
some kind of game, such as he had not given them before,' &c. 
This passage is taken from the s;ime book, in which, we are told, the 
Indians have such exalted ideas of divinity. Heckew. p. 55. 
* Harhis, vol. i. p. 8. f Heckew. pp. 57, 58. 

y 



Clxxviii THE ABORIGINES. SEC. III. 

Their notions of Christianity seem to be equally 
irrational. One of the Jesuits took great pains to 
convert an Indian chief; and, to all external appear- 
ances, he had completely succeeded. ' The French,' 
(at Montreal,) says our author, * gave him Christian 
burial in a pompous manner; the priest, that attended 
him at his death, having declared that he died a true 
Christian; for, said the priest, while I explained to 
him the passion of our Saviour, whom the Jews cru- 
cified, he cried out: Oh! had I been there, I would 
have revenged his death, and brought away their 
scalps.'* 

In their marriages, too, the Indians have nothing 
in common with civilized men. The contract gene- 
rally begins, and ends, in mere convenience; or, if 
the parties are sometimes swayed by a more refined 
motive, there is so little in their habits to keep it alive, 
that one or two years are generally sufficient to dis- 
sipate the charm. The chief duties of the husband 
are, to provide a cabin, game, and utensils for cook- 
ing. The squaw tills their ground; fetches all their 
wood; and, when on a journey, transports all their 
baggage. It is considered as a privilege, that she 
can change husbands, when she pleases; but this is 
only the privilege of leaving one master, who has ill- 
treated her, for another, who will treat her in the 

» Cold. p. 198. 



SEC. m. THE ABORIGINES. clxxix 

same manner. It is a privilege, however, that, when 
she quits her husband, the childre i follow her; for, 
as each person, whether old or young, receives an 
equal dividend of national property, the more nu- 
merous the family, the more easy are their circum- 
stances. 

Some authors represent the Indians as little su- 
perior to beasts of prey; while others make them the 
most innocent beings, on this side of Paradise. The 
former only look at their treatment of enemies; and 
the latter have an eye merely to their conduct 
towards friends, strangers, and each other. There 
is some truth on both sides of the picture. The 
Indians are as extreme in their benevolence, as 
they are extravagant in their cruelty. They can 
neither do too much for a friend; nor too much 
against an enemy. Many of the tribes were accus- 
tomed to set apart houses for the sole use of stran- 
gers; and, upon the arrival of a guest, a whole village 
contributed their efforts to give him fit entertain- 
ment.* Experience has taught each tribe, too, that 

* 'The.'« is in every village of the Susquehanna Indians,' says Dr. 
frankhw, 'a vacant dwelling called the Stranger's House. When a tra- 
veller arrives within hearing of a village, he stops and halloos, for it is 
deemed uncivil to enter abruptly. Two old men lead him to the house, 
and then go round to the inhabitants, telling them a stranger has arrived 
fatigued and hungry. They send him all they can spare, bring tobacco 
after they are refreshed, and then ask questions whence they came and 
whither they go?' 



cixXX THE ABORIGINES. SEC. III. 

nothing but the most perfect harmony among them- 
selves, will enable them to maintain their station, 
in the Indian commonwealth; and we have it from 
a white, who has been an Onondaga chief, for 
about forty years, that, during all that time, he has 
never seen one Indian give another an ill-natured 
word, — much less, a blow. 

We are apt to forget, that, by the very nature of 
their society, they can have few occasions to quarrel. 
Whatever ferocity may be ascribed to their cha- 
racter, they must, at least, be acquitted of personal 
selfishness. There has been but one account of their 
liberality to those of their own kindred or tribe, since 
the continent was first discovered. *I have always 
seen these people,' says Columbus, ' impart to each 
other whatever they had;'* and one, who lives near a 
tribe, may daily witness the corroboration of his 
statement. Not only does their way of life create no 
necessity, — ^but it is so liable to change, and so little 
calculated for repose, that it produces no motive, — for 
the accumulation of private wealth. They are not 
ambitious of improvement; and know not what is 
meant by luxury. Their wants are few and simple; 
and, beyond the gratification of these, they can see 
no use in property. An Indian, it is said, was told, in 
answer to his question, that ' covetousness,' among 

See post. p. 261. 



5EC. III. THE ABORIGINES. clxxxi 

white people, means, ' a desire for more than one has 
need of." 'That's strange!' he rephed, with a look 
that accorded with his language.* Such ideas of 
property are Httle fitted to create disputes; for men, 
who can boast of civilization, may bear to be told, 
that the greater part of their own quarrels arise from 
disagreements concerning mine and thine.\ 

• Smith's Hist. N. Y. p. 35, note. 

f It was once said, and has recently been repeated, that some of the 
aborigines were once cannibals. The Indians of New England used to 
call all the western tribes, ' Mohawks ; which signifies cannibals,' we ai-e 
told, 'from the Indian word moho, to eat' Hutch. Mass. vol. i. p. 457, 
note. In a manuscript book of a Mr. Pyrlseus, who resided among the 
Mohawks, as a missionary, between 1742 and 1748, there is the following 
memorandum: 'The Five Nations did formerly eat human flesli, they 
at one time ate up a whole body of the French king's soldiers, they say 
Eto ?iiocht achquari ; which is: Human flesh tastes like bear's meat. 
They, also say, that the hands are not good eating, they are yozgaraf, 
bitter.' Heckew. p. 37, note. Some French Canadians told the latter 
author, that he ' had frequently seen the Iroquois devour the bodies of 
men slain in the French war of 1756. Id. ibid. And, as a further con- 
firmation, a passage is quoted from Coiuen; who informs us, that, in the 
treaty held at Philadelphia, in 1742, the absence of the Seneca chiefs 
was excused, because ' there was a famine in their country, and that a 
father had been obliged to kill two of his children, to preserve the lives 
of the remainder of the family.' App. p. 54. AVe can furnish two more 
testimonies from the same book. 'It is true,' says the author, 'the Eng- 
lish were in great want of provisions at that time. The Indians ate the 
dead bodies of the French that they found,' Ft. i. p. 147. Upon another 
occasion, after having tortured an enemy, in all their modes of cruelty, 
'they cut slices from his body to conclude the tragedy with a feast.' Pt ii. 
p. 186. If it be cannibalism, to eat a piece of an enemy, in a transient fit 
'>f revenge, we do not think the act sufficiently monstrous to create so 



dxXXii THE ABORIGINES. SEC. III. 

Indian games are not numerous; and seem chiefly 
designed to render the combatants athletic and swift 
of foot. Some of the western tribes formerly had a 
play, which, for want of the appropriate name, we 
must call a scramble. A billet of wood, about 
eighteen inches long, made round, and polished very 
smooth, was sent to a grea4; distance, by one of the 
chiefs: the younger lads of the tribe immediately 
started in pursuit of it: the fleetest runner was not 
always the stoutest wrestler: to get the billet was 
some merit; but to keep it, was a greater; and it 
was so slippery, that it changed hands, perhaps a 
thousand times, before the strongest proclaimed his 
victory.* 

But the most universal and most manly game, 
is that of ball. This is frequently played by seve- 
ral hundreds; and different tribes will sometimes 

much astonishment; and, if it is to devour human flesh, when there is 
nothing else to devour, some of our early settlers were as much cannibals 
as the Mohawks. What has rendered this practice so horrible an outrage 
to our own feelings, was the circumstance, that man could make the flesh 
of man, an article of his ordinary food; — that, in the language of Pitt, he 
could ' roast and eat the mangled victims of his barbarous battles.' The 
evidences, here adduced, by no means prove, that the Iroquois have 
eaten human flesh, except it was for the sake of revenge, or in cases of 
necessity. We place no reliance upon the new derivation of JVToha-ivk. 
We have already seen another equally plausible ; and, if, indeed, the 
Indians are to be pronounced cannibals, by making ' to eat' signify 'to eat 
human flesh,' we know not what etymologists may not demonstrate them 
to be. 

* Jf»v. Journ. Hist 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. clxxxiii i 

play against each other. The ball is made of deer- 
skin, stuffed with hair, and sewed with sinews. The 
sticks are from three to four feet long; and, being 
curved at the end, a web is made of thongs, for the 
purpose of catching the ball. The goals are two 
stakes, set in the ground, about six hundred yards 
apart. The ball is tossed into the air, at an equal dis- 
tance from each ; and the object is to throw it beyond 
the one, or the other. The parties enter upon the com- 
bat with great eagerness: the velocity of their move- 
ments is scarcely credible: the ball seldom touches 
the ground; but is seen constantly shooting into the 
air; and, while one is upon the point of hurling it in 
one direction, an antagonist strikes down his club, — 
catches the ball in his web, and sends it in another. 
' They play with so much vehemence,^ says a tra- 
veller, ' that they frequently wound each other, and 
sometimes a bone is broken; but notwithstanding 
these accidents, there never appears to be any spite 
or wanton exertions of strength to affect them, nor 
do any disputes ever happen between the parties.'* 

No two authors can agree upon the subject of 
Indian languages. We have many formal theses 
upon the radical tongues. One makes this division; 
and another, that. Some, again, are of opinion, that 
they are rich, sonorous, and smooth; others tell us, 

*C\BT. p. 365. 



Clxxxiv THE ABORIGINES. »EC. III. 

that they are poor, guttural, and harsh. It seems 
perfectly idle to speculate upon languages, of which 
the grammatical construction has not yet been ascer- 
tained. We must know their parts of speech, and 
their rules of declension, conjugation, and syntax. 
The specimens, usually exhibited, appear to be mere 
strings of letters and syllables; and the progress, as 
yet made, in the analysis of these languages, is only 
enough to teach us, tjiat they are still rude and irre- 
gular. They are encumbered with a multiplicity of 
consonants; and their modes of government and con- 
cord appear to be so few and imperfect, that the 
words lie together without much connection. In a 
civilized state, for example, gachtingetsch would lose 
four or five of its consonants;* and instead of saying 
' God — I fear him,^ as the Delawares do,t we omit 
the superfluous pronoun, and say ' I fear God.' In 
the Lenape, again, there are no words to distinguish 
gender. The male of birds is called 'man bird; 
and the female, ' woman bird.'| Pronouns are used 
in the conjugation of verbs; but there seems to be no 
distinjction of person, case, or number.§ So, there 
appears to be forms of expression, which answer to 
our moods and tenses; but we can discover nothing 
like a principle, upon which they are constituted. 

* Heckew. p. 382. ^ Heckew. p, 368. 

t Ibid. p. 380. § Ibid. pp. 378, 379. 



S'EC. III. THE ABORIGINES. dxxxV 

Perhaps there is, among all nations, some one com- 
modity, which will purchase every other; and imm- 
pum is said to be the money of the Indians.* The 
beads, of which it is composed, are of two sorts,— the 
white, and the purple. The former are manufactured 
from the inside of great conchs, and strung upon 
thongs of leather. The latter are worked from the 
interior coating of the muscle shell; and woven into 
belts, about three inches broad, and two feet long. 
Each bead has its particular value; and, when a belt 
does not contain the requisite number, the balance is 
attached by a string.f Wampum is said to be the 
Iroquois for ' a marine shell. '| 

The writers,§ who have hitherto speculated upon 
the decrease of the Indians, are prone to lay great 
stress upon the destructive operation of ardent spirits; 
attributing extravagant effects to what, in its imme- 
diate effects, is comparatively a trifling cause; and 
passing over those acknowledged principles, by which 
the population of every country must be regulated. 
The ravages of drunkenness must, we admit, be 
greater among the Indians than among ourselves; and 
for this extremely plain reason, that the practice is 

* Cold. Introd. p. 3, note. -^ Heckew. p. 414. 

t Heckew. pp. 378, 379. 

§ The substance of the remarks, which follow, have been previously 
published, in an anonymous form ; but we will settle the account of pla- 
ffiarism with the author. 



dxXXVi THE ABORIGINES. SEC. III. 

more universal. But, if their disappearance is not the 
effect of something more radical than an attachment 
to strong drink, why are they running in a continual 
stream to the west, — abandoning the land of their 
forefathers, to live in hopeless temperance^ beyond 
the reach of civilization ? 

According to the writers on political economy, the 
two great causes of all depopulation, are, Jirst, a dimi- 
nution in the quantity of that kind of provision, which 
has been customarily used; and, secondly, an increase 
in the expensiveness of livitig, occasioned by the in- 
troduction of more costly food. The Chinese, (if it 
be necessary to take examples,) subsist chiefly upon 
fish; and the Persians upon melons: but, should the 
fish no longer continue to swim in the rivers of China, 
or the melon be no longer able to extract nourish- 
ment from the soil of Persia, it is obvious, that the 
inhabitants of each of these countries must suffer a 
very serious numerical diminution. As the common- 
alty are by far the most numerous class of population, 
and as they are barely able to support themselves, by 
the ordinary supply of that kind of provision, to which 
they have been accustomed, the moment that such a 
supply is unattainable, the prospect of marriage is re- 
moved from their view; for, with few exceptions, it 
may be laid down as a truth, that no man will burden 
himself with the weight of a family, until he knows. 
that he shall be able to sustain it. 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. clxXXVil 

The same observations may be applied to the other 
division of the subject. Should any revolution in the 
manners of the Chinese, or of the Persians, make 
animal food a necessary constituent of their diet, a 
decrease of population would be the inevitable effect: 
for, although the supply of ordinary food may still 
continue to be afforded, yet flesh has become an article 
of domestic necessity; and no man will be likely to 
marry, unless he has a prospect of being able to sup- 
port a family, in the use of this new species of susten- 
ation. It is in vain to allege, tliat the old kind of diet 
is sufficient for all the purposes of actual necessity. 
The laws of fashion, though mutable, are imperious. 
'Men will not marry,' says a philosopher, 'to sink 
their place or condition in society, or to forego those 
indulgences, which their own habits, or what they 
observe among their equals, have rendered necessary 
to their satisfaction.'* We have confined our view 
to the article of food; but it is evident, that the same 
reasoning is applicable to dress, to drink, to houses, 
to furniture, and, in short, to every thing connected 
with the economy of life. 

If our present Indians are the same race with those 
described by the historian of De Soto, who is called 
^ a faithful recorder of facts,'! they once derived their 
chief subsistence from vegetable food. Their planted 

* Paley's Mor. Philos. b. vi. ch, xi. f Bart. New Views, p. xlix. 



clxXXviii THE ABORIGINES. SEC. IH. 

fields were numerous and extensive; and they some- 
times stored up maize, in such quantities, that the old 
was discarded to admit the new. When the English 
first invaded their territory, they were frequently de- 
spoiled of their stores: and, in the wars, which, in 
many different ways, were soon provoked between 
them and the new-comers, the latter could depend so 
httle upon the enjoyment of their own crops, that they 
betook themselves, for the most part, to fish and game.* 
Here was, not only an immense diminution of their 
ordinary food, — but a great increase in the expensive- 
ness of living. Perhaps the labour expended in run- 
ning down a single deer, would, if employed in tillage, 
be able to support one man for two months. 

But this was not the termination of the evil. 

* A passage from the history of De Soto's expedition, will sliow liow 
•much they depended upon veg-etable food, and what they probably suffered 
in the first stages of their change from agriculturalists to hunters. 'The 
Indians of Minoya, during the time that they were there, came to serue 
ftiem, (being driven therevnto by necessity) that of the maiz that they 
had taken from them, they would bestow some crummes vpon them. And 
because the countrie was fertill, and the people vsed to feed of maiz, and 
the Christians had gotten all from them that they had, and the people 
were many, they were not able to sustain themselves. Those which came 
to the towne were so weake and feeble, that they had no flesh on their 
bones : and many came and died neere the towne for pure hungo-r and 
weakenesse. The gouernor commanded, vpon grievous punishment, to 
giue them no maiz. Yet, when they saw that the hogges wanted it not, 
and that they had yielded themselues to serue them, and considering their 
miserie and wretchedness, having pity of them, they gaue them part of 
tbe maiz which they Isad.' Pp, 154-5. 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. elxxxix 

Hunted by the red men, and deprived of tlieir coverts 
by the whites, the beasts soon began to fly from their 
old haunts. The Indians, thus gradually losing their 
last stay, had no other resource, than to sell parts of 
their grounds, to supply the absence of their ordinary 
food and clothing, by such as were used among the 
new-comers. Game continued to disappear immense 
tracts were sold for trifling sums; and the i'ew tribes, 
which remain on this side of the Mississippi, are at 
length penned up in reservations, which, for their 
animals, can scarcely be worth the possession. In 
this manner, they have lost their ordinary resource of 
subsistence; and, at the same time, have been obliged 
to adopt the more expensive diet, clothing, and fur- 
niture, of the whites.* 

Had they adopted all our modes of life, they might 
have still supported their numbers But they adhered 

*W^hen the Indians were selling the western half of Delaware, *We 
are sensible,' said they, 'that the land is everlasting, and the few goods 
we receive for it are soon worn out and gone.' ' Besides, we are not well 
used with respect to the lands still unsold hy us. Your people daily settle 
on these lands, and spoil our hunting.' Coli). App. p. 64. So, in another 
place, • Our deer are killed,' say they, • in such quantities, and our hunting 
countries grown less every day, by the settlement of white people, that 
game is now difficult to find, and we must go away in quest of it.' Ibid. p. 
81. The same idea was always present to their minds. ' It is ciistomaiy 
with us,' sad the Onondaga chief, 'to make a present of skins, whcnevei- 
we renew our treaties. We are ashamed to offer our brethren so few, but 
your horses and cows have eat the grass our deer \ised to f(ied on.' Ibid, 
p. 64. 



CX-C THE ABORIGINES. SEC. III. 

to their old habits, as long as they had any grounds to 
spare; and, when, at length, they had stripped them- 
selves of nearly all, it was necessary to pass, by a single 
leap, from the savage to the civilized state. So sudden 
a change was impossible. The Indians were unable to 
understand our modes of agriculture: their numbers 
daily grew less, by deaths or emigration: few mar- 
riages took place to supply the vacuity: their spirits 
sunk: their pride was gone; and, instead of labouring 
to procure subsistence, they only exerted themselves 
to obtain what might purchase a dram, and make them 
forget their ruin. A part of the time they spent in 
senseless intoxication ; and the lucid interlapse of so- 
briety was occupied only in mourning over the recol- 
lection of past importance, and trembling at the pros- 
pect of speedy annihilation. They become weak, idle, 
and improvident; and, destitute alike of ability and dis- 
position to labour, they either sit down and welcome 
death, or quit their paternal seats for more congenial 
abodes. 

Nearly all the land, which is now owned by the 
United States, or by the states separately, has been 
fairly purchased from the aborigines; and some of it 
has been purchased several times over. To civilized 
men, perfidy appears to be a leading trait in the cha- 
racter of the Indians; but they are certainly faithful, 
so far as their principles go; and perhaps it would be 
difficult to find the people, that can boast of doing 



SEC. III. THE ABORIGINES. CXCl 

more. They consider no treaty as binding, unless it 
is begun and concluded, on their part, in the most 
unconstrained and voluntary manner. A lack of food, 
or a superiority of force, has often compelled them to 
treat of peace; and they never suppose such treaties 
obligatory, any longer than their new supplies con- 
tinue, or their numbers appear too small. The whites 
have a different opinion; and questions of this kind 
can only be decided by arms. 

But, while we are enforcing our rights, let us not 
torget our magnanimity. The Indians are not equal 
to us, in any respect; and, whatever may have been 
the justice of treating them with severity, while we 
were yet a cluster of feeble and distracted colonies, 
it is now our duty to take care of beings, who are 
no longer competent to take care of themselves. It is 
the genius of our government, to be humane; and cases 
have often occurred, in which it has voluntarily parted 
two nations, who would otherwise have exterminated 
each other.* But the Indians seldom come within 

* M'Aff. Hist. West. War, p. 43. 'It was long since discovered, by the 
Indians themselves,' says a correspondent of the secretary at war, in a letter 
dated at Cincinnati, March 22, 1814, ' and but for the humane policy, which 
has been pursued by our government, the Delawares, Kickapocs, and 
Shawanoese, would long since have been out of our way. The country 
claimed by the Osages abounds with every thing that is desirable to a 
savage. The Indians of the tribes above mentioned have occasionally in- 
truded upon them, — a war was the consequence, which would have given 
a sufficient opening for emigration. But our government interfered and 
obliged the hostile tribes to make peace.' 



CXCil THE ABOHIGINES. SEC. IIL 

the sphere of its immediate influence. It is ahuosf 
impossible to obtain true information, or disinterested 
advice; and the government is obhged to commit such 
affairs to its representatives, who do not always par- 
take of its humanity. Hard bargains, and still harder 
treaties, are sometimes made with the aborigines. 
Such they have continued to fly from, or to violate: 
but it has seldom happened, we believe, that they have 
evaded a contract, or infringed a treaty, which was 
perfectly equitable on their side. In most of our 
negotiations, they have laboured under many dis- 
advantages; and one of the greatest, is, their abject 
humility, when subdued by force. With the ex- 
ception of a wolf, taken in the toils, there is scarcely 
any being so prostrate and spiritless as a conquered 
Indian. It is a part of their system to consider them- 
selves as at the absolute disposal of the victor. They 
do not feel as if they could claim any rights: they pro- 
pose nothing, and object to nothing; but submit, like 
things inanimate, to the dictation of their masters. 
They sign any thing, if it will only set them at liberty; 
and their conduct soon demonstrates, that the signa- 
ture was made for no other purpose. 



THE UNITED STATES. 



CHAPTER I. 



Voyages of Columbus — of the Cabots — of L'Escarbot — Spirit 
of Discovery damped in England — Sir Humphrey Gilbert's 
two Voyages—Sir Walter Raleigh's Enterprises — Failure 
of his first Colony — of the Second — Bartholomew Gosnald's 
Expedition— First Settlement of Virginia under Newport, 
Gosnald, and Ratcliffe— Adventures of Captain John Smith 
— New Charter obtained — Expedition of Newport, Gates, 
and Somers — Administration of Lord Delawar — A third 
Charter obtained — Marriage of Pocahontas with Mr. Rolfe 
— Expedition against Port Royal — Administration of Mr. 
Yeardly— of Captain Argal— Female Emigrants — Tyranny 
of Governor Sir John Harvey— Moderation of his successor, 
Sir William Berkeley — Increase of the Colony during the 
Civil Wai' — Settlement of Maryland— Prosecution of Clay- 
borne — Revolutions in Maryland — Appointment of Gover- 
nor Philip Calvert, by the Proprietor, Lord Baltimore — Po- 
pulation. 

It is stated, by the English historians, that, while 
Christopher Columbus was soliciting the Spanish 
court to embark in his project of discovery, Bartho- 
lomew was secretly despatched, to gain over their 
Henry VII.; but, being captured by pirates, on the 
way, he did not reach England, and obtain an audi- 
ence, until his brother had already given the New 
World to Castile and Leon.* Bartholomew, hovv- 

'' See Note (A.) at the end of the voiuni'? 
A 



2 THE UNITED STATES CHAP, L 

ever, was very favourably received; and the English 
monarch, though superseded in the honour of the dis- 
covery, was resolved, at all events, to participate in 
the profits. Accordingly, in 1495, three years after 
the discovery of Columbus, he entered into a sort of 
fellowship with John Cabot and his three sons; com- 
missioning them to seize, in his name, all the lands 
they could discover in the east, the north, or the west; 
but stipulating, that the voyage should be undertaken 
at their own expense, and that, of the trade, which 
they might drive with the inhabitants, they should re- 
turn their royal partner his due fifth of the clear gains. 
This scheme was never carried into execution; but, 
three years afterwards, in May, 1498, the elder Cabot 
and his second son, Sebastian, set sail from Bristol^ 
with one ship and four barks; intending, if practica- 
ble, to reach the East Indies, through the short pass- 
age pointed out by Columbus. They held nearly a 
due west course, till they discovered the new conti- 
nent; and, after following the coast, from the fifty- 
sixth to the thirty-eighth degree of north latitude, they 
steered homeward again, to carry the unwelcome in- 
telligence, that India was not to be attained in the 
west. It does not appear, that they ever landed: and 
it is only upon this cursory traverse of the coast, that 
the English primarily found their claim to the whole 
continent of North America. 



GHAP. I. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 3 

The French have their claims, also, to the original 
discovery of this continent. L'Escarbot thinks, the 
fact is conclusively established, from the circum- 
stance, that, when he visited America, in 1606, the 
language spoken at Newfoundland and the Great 
Bank was half Biscayan; and it seems, indeed, to be 
well established, that, more than a century before 
this, (in 1504,) the Biscayans frequented and fished, 
not only in these two places, — but in the whole Gulf 
of St. Lawrence. The latter fact, however, suffi- 
ciently explains the former; and, that the Biscayans 
visited these waters, in 1504, cannot certainly be ad- 
mitted as conclusive proof of their having been there 
anterior to 1498, Of the two titles, therefore, that 
of England seems to be rather the best supported. 

For a long time, however, after the discovery of 
Cabot, no pains were taken to corroborate this title. 
By a bull of the Pope, dated the 7th of May, 1493, 
Spain was alone to have all the lands which she had 
discovered, or should discover, to the west of an ima- 
ginary line drawn from pole to pole, one hundred 
leagues westward of the Azores. Henry VII. was not 
celebrated for a contempt of papal authority; though, 
in this instance, his respect for the Roman pontiff was 
very powerfully seconded by his fear of the Spanish 
monarch. A negotiation was on foot, for the marri- 
age of his eldest son to the princess Catharine; and 



i THE UNITED STATES CHAP. I. 

he was not likely, therefore, to cut himself short of 
the influence, which such a connexion would then 
have given him in Europe, by doing any thing to 
offend his brother Ferdinand. When we add to this, 
that Henry was naturally cautious, and that his em- 
pire was then peculiarly in need of his caution, we can 
hardly wonder at the neglect which Sebastian Cabot 
met with in England; and on account of which he was 
obliged to enter into the service of Spain. 

During tlie reign of Philip and Mary, things took 
a different turn. A knowledge of the Spanish lan- 
guage and of Spanish history had become fashionable 
in England: the power of Spain was seen to be ra- 
pidly increasing, by the riches which she derived from 
America: men of rank and influence felt the spirit of 
colonization ; and, under Ehzabeth, the general dispo- 
sition at length ripened into a project for the esta- 
blishment of a new empire in the west. The execu- 
tion was entrusted to Sir Humphrey Gilbert; who, on 
the 11th of June, 1578, obtained letters patent, con- 
taining full powers to settle all the lands, which he 
should discover, and to govern all the settlements, 
which he might make. The expedition sailed from 
England, and landed on the coast of Cape Breton; 
where, owing partly to the inadequacy of its supplies, 
' — but chiefly to the inhospitableness of the climate 
and of the inhabitants, wliat little was done towards 



CHAP. I. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 5 

a settlement soon came to a disastrous end. Sir Hum- 
phrey tried a second time; but lost his own life in the 
attempt; having done little more than to take solemn 
possession of Newfoundland in the name of the 
queen, and in the presence of some fishermen and 
merchants assembled for the purpose. 

The disasters of Sir Humphrey Gilbert did not 
discourage his chivalrous half-brother, Sir Walter 
Raleigh; who, on the 26th of March, 1584, obtained 
similar letters patent from Elizabeth; and, on the 27th 
of April, despatched captains Amidas and Barlow, 
with two small ships, in order to explore the coast, on 
which he intended to plant a colony. In avoiding the 
error of Gilbert, they ran into the opposite extreme, 
and steered too far to the south. On the 2d of July, 
they landed on an island in Pamplicoe Sound, — which 
they called Wokocon (Ocakoke), and which they 
found to be a complete vineyard of grapes. They 
visited what is now Roanoke; obtained some vague 
knowledge of the continent; spent some weeks in a 
profitable trade with the natives; and, taking two of 
them on board of the vessels, set sail again for Eng- 
land, and arrived there on the 15th of September. 
Their splendid accounts of the country so delighted 
Elizabeth, that she called it Virginia, in allusion to 
her own character; and they so much encouraged Sir 
Walter Raleigh, that, early in the spring of 1585, he 



6 THE UNITED STATES ©HAP. I. 

placed Sir Richard Grenville, a relation of his, at the 
head of an expedition, consisting of seven small ships, 
laden with all the requisites of colonization. Sir 
Richard touched at the islands discovered by Amidas 
and Barlow, in the latter end of June 5 made some 
excursions into the neighbouring continent; establish- 
ed a colony of one hundred and eight persons in the 
island of Roanoke; and, placing it under the govern- 
ment of Mr. Ralph Lane, embarked for England, on 
the 28th of August. 

Instead of obtaining information about the coun- 
try, or taking measures for their future subsistence, 
these colonists misspent their time in digging after 
gold; and, when Sir Francis Drake found them, on 
the 1st of June, 1586, they were at war with the abo- 
rigines, and reduced to the wretched necessity of de- 
pending for their support upon the woods and waters. 
Drake promised to leave them one hundred men, 
with a small vessel, and four months^ provisions; but, 
before he could complete the arrangement, he was 
driven off by a violent storm; and, when he returned, 
the disheartened settlers resolved to go home with 
him to England. They started on the 19th of June; 
a few days after which, a small vessel, despatched by 
Raleigh, came to their relief; and, a little later still, 
three ships, with ample supphes, under the command 
of Sir Ricliard Grenville. The latter left fifteen men. 



CHAP. I. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 7 

with provisions for two years: but the Indians soon 
put them beyond the necessity of being so much be- 
forehand. And thus terminated the second enterprise 
of the Enghsh to gain a footing in the New World. 

But Sir Walter Raleigh was not so easily discou- 
raged. He fitted out another expedition, under the 
command of captain John White; who, with twelve 
others, obtained a charter of incorporation, under the 
name of the '^ Governor and Assistants of the City of 
Raleigh, in Virginia.^ They started from England 
with three ships; and landed at Roanoke, about the 
close of July, 1587. Some women accompanied this 
colony; and, not long after their arrival, one Ananias 
Dare boasted of having the first Anglo-American 
child; which, in commemoration of her birth-place* 
was called Virginia. About the same time, also, one 
©f the natives, taken over to England by Amidas and 
Barlow, was christened Lord of Dessa Monpeake; 
after a tribe of aborigines, who lived in the neighbour- 
hood, and whose friendship the new settlers were de- 
sirous of conciliating. Governor White returned to 
England for additional supplies; but he found Sir 
Walter Raleigh exclusively occupied with arrange- 
ments to repel the Invincible Armada; and, though, 
early in 1588, Sir Richard Grenville was placed at 
the head of a small fleet, for the relief of the colony, 
Uie queen defeated the enterprise, by forbidding Sir 



8 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. I. 

Richard to go out of Cornwall; nor was it till the 22d 
of April, that, amidst the general exigency of naval 
preparations, Mr. White could obtain two small barks 
to bring him back to America. Even the command- 
ers of these could not cross the Atlantic, without seek- 
ing a quarrel with the Spaniards. They undertook 
to beat a superior force; were beaten themselves, and 
obliged to give over the voyage. 

In 1589, Sir Walter Raleigh assigned his patent 
to Sir Thomas Smith, and a company of merchants; 
who, in March, 1590, despatched three ships for the 
rehef of the new colony. The voyage was turned 
into a cruise against the Spaniards; and the fleet did 
not reach Hatteras till as late as August. Not a ves- 
tige remained of the settlers, who had been left there 
three years before; and, though a party of nineteen 
men scoured the whole island of Roanoke, no traces 
of their residence or emigration could be found. Be- 
fore the departure of Mr. White, it had been stipu- 
lated, that, if they should change their residence, the 
name of the place, to which they might remove, to- 
gether with a cross, if they were in distress, should 
be carved upon some tree or post, about the spot; 
where they at first settled. The word, CROATAN; 
was found upon one of the chief posts; but, as the 
sign of distress was not over it, the newcomers were 
encouraged to hope, that their countrymen might still 



CHAP. I. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 9 

be in existence. Croatan was an Indian town, on the 
north side of Cape Lookout: they set sail for it the 
next day; but, meeting with a storm, they returned 
to the West Indies; and when, or where, or how the 
colonists had perished, remains, to this day, undisco- 
vered. 

The English made no more essays at colonization, 
for twelve years; when Bartholomew Gosnald sailed 
from Falmouth, in a small bark, with thirty-two men: 
and, steering directly westward, touched America 
near the forty-third degree of north latitude, on the 
nth of May, IfaOg. He sailed thence to the south, 
in quest of some good harbour; and, the next day, 
gave names to Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and 
Ehzabeth's Island. He traded some time with the 
natives; set sail again; and saw England in less than 
four months from the time of his first departure. 
The rapidity of his voyage, the temperateness of the 
climate, and the fertility of the islands, which he had 
discovered, were soon reported through England; 
and, although his countrymen, from having heard 
similar accounts, before, were so suspicious of his 
accuracy, as to despatch two ships, for the purpose of 
ascertaining the facts, they both returned with a full 
confirmation of all he had related. 

A pretty extensive scheme of colonization was 
now set on foot. Richard Hackluyt, prebendary of 



10 THE UNITED SfATES CHAP. L 

Westminster, is said to have been the chief promoter 
of the enterprise; though the petition for letters pa- 
tent was headed with the name of Sir Thomas Gates. 
James I. w:as much pleased with the proposal: the 
great seal was put to the patent;, on the 10th of April. 
1606; and, while the petitioners were making prepa- 
ration for the voyage, the king was gi'atifying his va- 
nity with constructing a code of laws for their govern- 
ment. The chief provisions of the charter were, — 
that the colonists should have all the lands on the sea- 
coast of America, between the thirty-fourth and 
forty-fifth degrees of north latitude; that they should 
be divided into two companies, — the first consisting 
of adventurers from London, and elsewhere, who 
were to establish themselves between the thirty-fourth 
and forty-first degrees of north latitude, — the second, 
of adventurers from Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, and 
elsewhere, who were, in like manner, to settle be- 
tween the thirty-eighth and forty-fifth degrees of 
north latitude; that each company should be guided 
by a council of thirteen, among themselves, and a si- 
milar council, in England; that they might open mines 
and mint a currency, — being always sure to give the 
king one-fifth of the gold and silver, and one-fifteenth 
of the copper, which they should find; and that, 
finally, the president and council might apprehend all 
persons, who should attempt to force a settlement 



CHAP. I. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 11 

within their territories, and compel them to pay a 
duty of two and a half per cent, ad valorem, if sub- 
jects, and live per cent, if foreigners. By the 20th 
of November, James had finished their code of laws; 
according to which the two colonies were to be under 
the general supervision of a council in England; to 
preach and practise the rites and doctrines of the 
English church; to make no laws which should be 
inconsonant to those of the mother country, or extend 
to the destruction of life or member; and, though, in 
fine, under the immediate government of their own 
president and council, to be ultimately subject to the 
crown of England. Before the expedition sailed, 
three sealed packets, containing the names of the 
council, were put respectively into the hands of Cap- 
tains Newport, Gosnald, and Ratcliffe; who were not 
to break the seals, until they should reach America. 

After all this preparation, the first division of the 
colony consisted of only one small vessel and two 
barks, with one hundred and five men. It was put 
under Captain Newport; who sailed from the Thames 
on the 19th of December, 1606; but, having taken 
the West Indian route, he did not reach America in 
four months; and, instead of landing at Roanoke, the 
place of his destination, he was driven by a storm into 
the mouth of Chesapeake Bay. In the latter end of 
April, 1607, he discovered Capes Henry and Charles; 



12 TftE UNITED STATES CHAP. I. 

and, on the 13th of May, he lauded his colony on a 
beautiful j3eninsula, formed by a river, which the na- 
tives called Powhatan, — the peninsula of Jamestown, 
on James River. They immediately broke open the 
sealed packets, which contained the names of the 
council; and, on proceeding to choose a president, 
Mr. Wingfield was found to have the majority of 
votes. They were soon involved in a war with the 
Indians; who, though they annoyed the colonists con- 
siderably, by attacking them while at work, were ge- 
nerally dispersed by firing a gun, or letting loose a 
bull-dog. The other adventurers so much envied the 
courage and talents of Captain John Smith, that they 
not only imprisoned him, during the voyage, under the 
frivolous pretence of his having intended to make 
himself king of Virginia, — but would not sutTer him 
to be one of the council, when, on opening the pack- 
ets, they found his name among the rest. "When it 
became necessary, also, that Newport should retiA^n 
to England, they proposed, with affected humanity, 
that Smith should go with him, and have his trial in 
his native country: but he demanded a hearing on the 
spot; was honourably acquitted; and took his seat 
among the council. Newport started about the 15th 
of June; leaving behind him, one bark, and about one 
hundred persons. 

The number was soon abridged. Wasting with 



CHAP. I. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 13 

improvidence the stores, whicli they aheady possess- 
ed, and careless to seek others, when those should be 
exhausted, each man became reduced to the daily 
allowance of only a pint of worm-eaten wheat and 
barley: the climate, at all times hot, was now humid; 
and, before the month of September, the colonists had 
buried one half of their number; among the rest Bar- 
tholomew Gosnald, whose good or ill fortune it was, 
to have originated and pushed forward the undertak- 
ing. These miseries were the natural parent of disor- 
der. The colonists quarrelled with themselves; and, 
charging their president with having embezzled the 
choicest of their stores, — such as beef, bread, and 
brandy, — they drove him from the office, and put Rat- 
cliffe in his place. But a sense of external danger soon 
quieted, in a measure, their internal dissensions. The 
exigency was such as naturally devolved all the real 
authority upon a man like Captain Smith; who erect- 
ed a rude fort to keep off the natives; assisted his 
comrades in fabricating houses to shelter them from 
the weather; and, when it w^as the season for gather- 
ing Indian corn, put himself at the head of small par- 
ties, and, sometimes by presents, sometimes by force, 
continued to obtain an abundant share of the harvest. 
The influence, which he acquired by such conduct, 
drew upon him, of course, the enmity of the president 
and his fellow-counsellors: but he defeated all their 



14 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. 1. 

machinations; and continued to deserve the gratitude 
of his countrymen, by the address and courage, with 
which he defended them against their enemies, and 
kept them from starvation. 

In an excursion to discover the head of Chiccako- 
mini River, he was attacked by an overpowering force 
of Indians; and, while fighting and retreating before 
them, suddenly found himself plunged to his neck in 
a swamp, and could defend himself no longer. His 
captors, at first, intended to kill him outright; but he 
had presence of mind enough to amuse them with a 
pocket-compass; and, taking him for some being of a 
supernatural order, they finally resolved upon carry- 
ing him to the palace of their king. Powhatan, it 
seems, was not accessible to superstitious terror. He 
ordered, that Smith's head should be laid on a stone, 
and his brains beaten out with clubs; but, when they 
had got him arranged for the purpose, Pocahontas, 
the king's daughter, threw herself between him and 
the executioner; folded his head in her arms, and 
offered her own in its stead. Powhatan was so much 
affected with the circumstance, that he not only spar- 
ed Smith's life, — but, after the requisite ceremonies, 
let him go back to Jamestown.* 

He had been absent seven weeks. He found the 
colony reduced to thirty-eight persons; and he returned 

' See Note (B). 



CHAP. I. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 15 

just in season to prevent them from leaving the 
country. He dissuaded them from adopting so cow- 
ardly a measure; and the influence, which he had 
gained over the natives, enabled him to keep his com- 
rades in provisions, till the arrival of a supply under 
Newport; who brought with him one hundred and 
twenty more individuals, and a quantity of agricultural 
tools. The exultation of the colonists carried them 

« 

beyond all the bounds of discipline and precaution: 
an indiscriminate commerce was allowed with the 
Indians; and it was not long before they were cheated 
into the most revengeful animosity. About the same 
time, the discovery of some glittering dust, in a rivulet 
near Jamestown, excited a delirious thirst for gold; 
and, to use the spirited language of Mr. Stith, the 
historian of Virginia, ' there was no thought, no dis- 
^ course, no hope, and no work, but to dig gold, wash 
'gold, refine gold, and load gold.' Newport's two 
vessels returned, the one in the spring, the other on 
the 2d of June, 1608; and the first remittance ever 
made by an Anglo-American colony, consisted of one 
ship-load of cedar, and another of an earth, which, 
because it shined, the colonists vainly imagined to be 
gold.* 

Leaving his countrymen to rue the inevitable 
effects of their delusion, Captain Smith, with Doctor 

* See Note fCV 



16 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. I. 

Russell and thirty men, undertook, in an open boat 
of tliree tons, to take a general survey of the Chesa- 
peake. He started on the 2d of June; and, beginning 
at Cape Charles, explored every creek and inlet, on 
both sides of the bay, as far up as the mouth of Rap- 
pahannock river; where, for the want of provisions, 
he was reluctantly compelled to abandon the enter- 
prise. He reached Jamestown on the 21st of July. 

• 

The colony was in the utmost disorder: the last rein- 
forcement were all sick; and the remainder were in 
open hostility with the governor. The accounts which 
Smith gave of his discoveries, — particularly the story, 
which he had of the Indians, that the Chesapeake 
communicated with the South Sea, — contributed to 
revive their spirits; and, after refusing an offer of the 
presidentship, and making arrangements to obtain 
more regular supplies, he left them again, on the 24th 
of the same month. He penetrated, this time, as far 
as the Susquehannah ; and surveyed, with the most 
diligent attention, every part of the surrounding coun- 
try. He returned on the 7th of September; and it 
is remarkable, that, notwithstanding the progress of 
subsequent discovery, his map of the countries adja- 
cent to the bay continues still to be the ground-work 
of all others. 

On the 10th of September, Smith was prevailed 
upon to accept the presidentship. Shortly after. New- 



CHAP. I. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 17 

i^ pOFt arrived with another detachment of settlers; and, 
though he brought no provisions with them, the vigour 
and perseverance of the new president soon put the 
whole colony in the way of supplying themselves. In 
the mean time, the proprietors in England were en- 
deavouring to make something of their enterprise, by 
obtaining a new charter, with more enlarged powers, 
and for a greater extent of territory. It was dated 
the 23d of May, 1609; and, under the title of ^The 
Treasurer and Company of Adventurers of the Citj' 
of London, for the first Colony in Virginia,' granted 
to the petitioners the absolute property of all the land, 
from sea to sea, lying between two parallel lines, 
drawn each at the distance of two hundred miles, 
north and south, from Point Comfort; together with 
all the islands, in both seas, which were situated 
within one hundred miles of the respective coasts. 
The colony was, in future, to be under the deputies 
of a council in England: Lord Delawar was appointed 
governor and captain-general, for life; and five hun- 
dred emigrants set sail, in nine ships, to carry the new 
project into execution. Powers had been severally 
given to Captain Newport, Sir Thomas Gates, and Sir 
George Somers, to set aside the old government; but, 
as they could not settle the precedence between them, 
they all agreed to sail in the same ship; and perhaps 
it saved them some unpleasant altercation, that a 



18 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. I. 

storm drove them on the island of Bermuda. The>«*t 'fp 
arrived in due season; consisting, according to Stith, 
of ' unruly sparks, poor gentlemen, broken tradesmen, 
'rakes, libertines, footmen' — of such persons, in short, 
as very soon demonstrated, that they 'were much 
' fitter to spoil and ruin a commonwealth, than to help 
' to raise or maintain one.^ Smith had need of all his 
energy to keep them in any sort of order; and an 
accident soon occurred, which prevented even that 
energy from being long exerted. In returning from 
a detachment stationed at the falls of James River, 
his powder-bag took fire, while he was asleep; and the 
explosion wounded him so severely, that he was under 
the necessity of going to England for surgical aid. 
He started about the beginning of October; leaving 
with the colony, three ships and seven boats; commo- 
dities ready for trade; provisions for ten weeks; a 
horse and six mares; a large stock of hogs and poul- 
try; some sheep and goats; agricultural utensils and 
fishing nets; one hundred well trained soldiers, twenty 
pieces of ordnance, and three hundred muskets. 

The government now devolved upon Captain 
Percy; whose talents were never adequate to such a 
task; and whose energy a long course of sickness had 
by no means contributed to increase. Disorder en- 
sued: the Indians invaded the settlement on all sides: 
the provisions of the colonists were soon exhausted: 



CHAP. I. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 19 

and they were, at last, reduced to the necessity of feed- 
ing on the carcases, not only of their horses, — but of 
their enemies, and even of their own companions. 
The whole five hundred were, in six months, reduced 
to sixty; and, had not Newport arrived from Bermuda, 
on the 24th of May. 1610, these sixty could not have 
held out ten days longer. They unanimously deter- 
mined to go home; and actually set sail in Newport's 
vessels; but they fortunately met Lord Delawar on 
the way; and, by means of his influence, were settled 
in Jamestown again, by the 10th of June. The whole 
colony now consisted of about two hundred ; who, by 
the wisdom and the application of Lord Delawar, soon 
became prosperous and peaceful. But ill health oblig- 
ed his lordship to sail for Nevis, in the West Indies^ 
on the 28th of March, 1611: the reins of government 
again grew lax in the hands of Mr. Percy; and, when 
Sir Thomas Dale, the new governor, arrived, on the 
10th of May, he was under the necessity of restoring 
order, by proclaiming martial law. Sir Thomas Dale 
was succeeded by Sir Thomas Gates; who arrived, in 
the beginning of August, with six ships, and a consi 
derable addition of men and supplies. 

As Bermuda was represented to be a very fertile 
island, the proprietors were anxious to get possession 
of it, as a place of supply; and accordingly, in March, 
1612, they obtained a new charter, which, besides 



20 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. I. 

remodelling some parts of their colonial polity, grant- 
ed to the treasurer and company all the islands within 
three hundred leagues of the Atlantic sea-coast. They 
obtained twenty-nine thousand pounds, also, by the 
first lotteries ever hcensed to be drawn in England. 
And, while these encouraging events were taking 
place in the mother country, a circumstance occurred 
in the colony, which was equally propitious to its con- 
cerns. In a voyage round the Potowmac, for a cargo 
of corn, Captain Argal learned, that Pocahontas had 
fled from her father, and lay concealed in his neigh- 
bourhood. He bribed her confidants; got her on 
board of his vessel; and carried her to Jamestown. 
Mr. Rolfe was captivated with her; she with Mr. 
Rolfe; and their marriage not only secured the stable 
and sincere friendship of King Powhatan, — but led 
to a treaty with the Chiccahominies, which ended in 
their becoming tributary to the English. About the 
same time, too, (1613,) Sir Thomas Dale augmented 
the industry of the colony about sevenfold, by giving 
to each individual the absolute property of three acres 
of ground, and suffering every one to work for him- 
self, instead of all labouring in common. 

Early in the year 1614, Sir Thomas Gates left the 
government in the hands of Sir Thomas Dale; who, 
along with Captain Argal, contrived and executed an 
enterprise, which, though almost unnoticed at the 



CTHAP. I. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 2\ 

time, was afterwards remembered with just indigna- 
tion. By a series of persevering efforts, from 1535 to 
1605, the French had succeeded in making estabHsh- 
ments on the coast, near the river St. Croix, as well 
as on the more northern part of the Bay of Fundy. 
They had no idea, that the whole New World belonged 
to the Enghsh: it was in a time of profound peace; 
and, when Argal appeared before Fort Royal, there 
was hardly the least appearance of defensive prepara- 
tion. The French took shelter among the Indians; 
and Argal, after seizing a ship and bark, which had 
just arrived with supplies, left them to take quiet pos- 
session of their town again. The Dutch, too, it seems, 
had no business at New York: Captain Hudson first 
discovered it, in 1609; and Argal could not, therefore, 
return to Jamestown, without making the governor a 
tributary to Virginia. 

In the year 1615, lots of fifty acres were laid oiT, 
and distributed among the colonists. And, about the 
same time, they began the cultivation of tobacco; 
which, in spite, or in consequence, of the strenuous 
opposition of the king, the parliament, and the com- 
pany, soon grew into such general use, as to become 
the staple commodity of Virginia.* In the spring 
of 1616, Sir Thomas Dale was obliged to leave the 
government in the hands of Mr. Yeardly; who, after 

' See Note (D). 



22 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. L 

exercising, or rather enjoying, the office for a year, 
was superseded by Captain Argal. He ruled the co- 
lony with a high hand. Martial law was kept up; the 
pubhc office was turned to his private account; and, 
though he enacted some wise regulations, — such, 
among others, as that goods, at an advance of twenty- 
five per cent, should be exchanged for tobacco at 
three shillings the pound; and that there should be 
no private trading with the Indians, or teaching them 
the use of fire-arms; yet the general despotism of his 
administration was so loudly complained of, by the 
Virginians, that, on the death of Lord Delawar, Mr. 
Yeardiy was nominated to the captain-generalship. 
He arrived in April, 1619; and, on the 19th of the fol- 
lowing June, convoked an assembly of deputies from 
the several boroughs, into which the colony was now 
divided. They met, with the governor and council, 
in the same apartment; were very popular; and enact- 
ed many laws, which, it is said, were judiciously 
formed. They were called the house of burgesses; 
and the name was retained till America asserted her 
independence. 

As very few females had heretofore adventured 
to the New World, those of the planters, who grew 
wealthy, were desirous of returning to England. The 
natural consequences of this very natural inclination 
were soon perceived; and, in 1620, ninety virgins. 



CHAP. I. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 23 

and, in the following year, sixty more, were trans- 
ported to the colony. They were eagerly sought 
after, by the young planters; and were all readily 
disposed of, at the rate of one hundred and fifty 
pounds of tobacco a piece.* About the same time, 
the company were ordered, by the king, to send 
among the colony the first convicts ever transported < 
to America. They consisted of one hundred per- 
sons; and it was soon manifest, that, being removed 
from temptation to vice and disorder, they were going 
to form a considerable addition to the industry, no 
less than the number, of the settlement. But, about 
the same time, also, the abolition of a monopoly, 
which, till then, had been enjoyed by the company, 
was succeeded by such a competition for trade, and 
demand for labour, that an ill-fated Dutch ship im- 
ported from Africa, and sold in the colonies, twenty 
individuals of a different description, and perhaps, in 
the end, of very doubtful utility. 

In July, 1621, the colony established a constitu- 
tion; by which their legislative concerns were, in 
future, to be transacted by two supreme councils; the 
council of state, deputed by the company to advise 
the governor on executive subjects; and the general 
assembly, consisting of the governor, the councils, and 
the two burgesses from eveiy town. The governor 
had a negative on the acts of the assembly; and nei- 

* See Note CE). 



24 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. I. 

ther the general court, in England, nor the legislature, 
in the colony, could carry its ordinances into execu- 
tion, without the mutual assent of each other. The 
population of the colony had, also, so much expanded 
itself, that it became inconvenient to try all causes 
at Jamestown; and justice was, therefore, rendered 
•cheaper and more accessible, by establishing inferior 
courts at other suitable places. In addition to these 
signs of prosperity, the long opposition of the king to 
the importation of tobacco was, in a great measure, 
terminated, in 162:2, by reducing all the former enor- 
mous charges to the single duty of nine pence in the 
pound. 

But the prospect did not long remain bright. 
Powhatan died in 1618; and was succeeded by Ope- 
chancanough, — a chief, who was equally distinguish- 
ed for the malignity, with which he could plan, and 
the capacity, with which he could execute, the most 
sanguinary designs. He continued to make a show of 
friendship: his people fed and lodged, as usual, among 
the white men; and, though the king was, all this 
time, conspiring the utter extirpation of the colony, 
and even borrowed their own boats, to cross the river 
and make his ai*i"angements; yet the whole plot was 
covered over, from the beginning to the end, with the 
most artful dissimulation, and kept in the most pro- 
found secrecy. The 22d of the fatal month of March 



CHAP. I. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 23 

was to be the day of execution. The Indians mixed 
with the settlers, as formerly; smiled and smiled, till 
the very instant of the appointed time; rose at once 
upon their victims; and, almost at the same moment, 
laid three hundred and forty-seven at their feet. The 
few that escaped, were indebted for their lives to one 
of the conspirators, who had been domesticated in 
the house of a Mr. Pace; and who disclosed the plot 
to that gentleman, in time to spread the alarm into 
the borders of Jamestown. This massacre was fol- 
lowed by a vindictive war of extermination: a famine 
ensued; and the number of settlements was, in no 
great length of time, reduced from eighty to eight. 
In the mean while, the company, at home, had grown 
so factious and imbecile, that, in April, 1623, the privy 
council ordered an inquisition into their affairs. The 
report attributed the slow progress of the settlement 
to the mal-administration of the company; and king 
James immediately acquainted them with his resolution 
of recalling their charter, and of putting the govern- 
ment into fewer hands. But, as they refused to give 
it up, he was obliged to try a writ of quo ivarranto; 
and it is almost needless to add, that, in June, 1624, 
the corporation was dissolved. They had expended 
one hundred and fifty thousand pounds; and had sent 
over nine thousand persons: — taeir annual imports 

T) 



iity X'HE U^'1TED STATES CHAP. I. 

were only twenty thousand pounds; and the numbers 
of their colony did not exceed eighteen hundred! 

Even this remnant, however, was enabled almost 
entirely to exterminate the aboriginal tribes in their 
neighbourhood. In February, 16:24, there was a ses- 
sion of the general assembly. Many wise and patri- 
otic laws were enacted; and, among the rest, ' that the 
^ governor should not impose any taxes on the colony, 
^ otherwise than by the authority of the general assem- 
^bly; and that he should not withdraw the inhabitants 
' from their private labour to any service of his own.' 
But, as Virginia had now fallen into royal hands, 
James took an early occasion to supersede the powers 
of this assembly, by sending over a governor and 
twelve counsellors, with powers to superintend the 
whole legislative and executive concerns of the esta- 
blisliment. Chnrles I. his son and successor, carried 
the tyranny still farther. James had given to Virginia 
and the Somer Isles, a monopoly of the tobacco-trade: 
Charles took it to himself; and appointed special 
agents to receive and manage all the imports of that 
article. On the death of Sir George Yeardly, too, 
the governorship was given to Sir John Harvey; who 
exercised his office in so oppressive and cruel a man- 
ner, that, in 1636, the Virginians seized and sent him 
to England. Charles sent him back, early in 1637: 
and, had there not already existed sufficient misun- 



CHAP. I, BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 27 

(lerstanding between himself and his parliament, he 
would doubtless have continued him permanently in 
the office. He was set aside, however, by the appoint- 
ment of Sir William Berkeley; a gentleman, who was 
every way calculated to please the colonists; and who 
could not have pleased them more than by showing, 
as he very soon did, that he was empowered to revive 
their general assembly. 

The administration of Sir William made the Vir- 
ginians incorrigibly loyal; and, accordingly, in Octo- 
ber, 1650, when Cromwell had got the upper hand 
in England, they were chastised with an ordinance, 
which dissolved their government; deposed their go- 
vernor; and interdicted all intercourse with foreign 
nations. In 1651, Sir George Ayscue arrived in the 
Chesapeake, to carry this measure into execution. 
Berkeley made a gallant resistance; and, though, at 
last, overpowered by numbers, he did not yield with- 
out stipulating for the indemnity of the colonists. As 
there was not, however, a market in England for all 
their produce, the interdiction of foreign commerce 
became so intolerably oppressive, that, on the sudden 
death of Governor Mathews, the settlers threw off 
their allegiance to the Commonwealth, and put the 
government again into the hands of Sir Wilham 
Berkeley. Fortunately, the intelligence did not reach 
England till after the death of Cromwell: when 



so THE UNITED STATES CHAP. I. 

Charles II. was restored, it was, of course, a very 
meritorious act; and the Virginians long continued to 
boast of the fidelity, with which they had adhered to the 
royal cause. They were gi'eatly stirred up and assisted, 
all this time, by the emigrant cavaliers ; who, in con- 
sequence of the persecution, which they experienced 
at home, and of the facihty, with which the dissolution 
of the old government enabled them to purchase land 
in the colony, came over to America in such numbers, 
that, between the commencement and termination of 
the civil war, the population of Virginia had increased, 
chiefly by them alone, from about twenty to about 
thirty thousand souls. 

One of the must obnoxious occurrences, which took 
place, during Harvey's administration, was Charles 
the First's grant to Lord Baltimore, dated June, 1632, 
of ' that region bounded by a line drawn from Wat- 
* kin's Point, on Chesapeake Bay, to the ocean, on the 
^ east; thence, to that part of the estuary of Delaware 
' on the north, which lielh under the fortieth degree, 
'where New England is terminated; thence' — in a 
word, Maryland. In November, of the same year, 
Calvert, the brother of Lord Baltimore, made a settle- 
ment, at St. Mary's, with about two hundred gentle- 
men, consisting chiefly of Roman Catholics. The 
Virginians petitioned against the proprietor's grant, 
in July, 1633: the privy council turned both parties 



CHAP. I. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 29 

over to the law; and the subject was never prosecuted 
any further. In February, 1634-5, the first Maryland 
assembly was convened. Their acts most probably 
displeased Lord Baltimore; who transmitted them, in 
turn, a code of laws, which were prepared by himself; 
and which were rejected by them, as soon as the as- 
sembly met, in January, 1637-8. During the same 
session, an act of attainder was passed against William 
Clayborne; who, in 1631, had obtained a grant from 
Charles, '^to traffic in those parts of America, for 
'which there was already no patent granted for sole 
'trade;' and who, as he had taken possession of Kent 
Island, near Annapolis, was determined to resist, in 
every way, the authority of the new comers. He was 
convicted of murder, piracy, and sedition; escaped 
justice by flight; petitioned the sovereign to interfere 
in his behalf; and, in 1639, had the mortification to 
hear the lords commissioners decide, th^t the lands in 
question were absolutely and solely the property of 
Lord Baltimore. 

Maryland became the asylum of the Roman Ca- 
tholics from Old England, — of those, whom puritanisni 
drove out of New England, and of the Puritans, who. 
in retaliation, had been proscribed by the Virginians. 
The increase of population, from these and other 
sources, soon made it inconvenient for all the freemen 
to attend the legislature: and. in 1639, it was resolved. 



30 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. I. 

that, for the future, there should be a council sum- 
moned, by special writ, and a house of burgesses, by 
general writ. The colony flourished; and there was 
the most perfect harmony between the proprietor and 
the people. But, as the government was attached to 
the royalists, Clayborne, who was of the republican 
side, found means, in the beginning of 1641, to excite 
an insurrection among the settlers. Calvert, their 
governor, was driven to Virginia; nor was it till Au- 
gust, 1642, that the revolt was suppressed, and the 
old government reinstated. The settlement began to 
prosper again; when, in September, 1651, commis- 
sioners were appointed by parliament, for ' reducing 
'^ and governing the colonies within the Bay of Chesa- 
' peake.' The proprietor had submitted to the autho- 
rity of parhament: the factions of the mother country 
extended their influence to the colonies: a civil war 
broke out; and Clayborne had his revenge, in the de- 
feat of the governor and the Roman Catholics. The 
victorious party would tolerate no popery, or prelacy, 
or quakerism: peace was out of the question; and it 
was not until the English restoration, when Lord Bal- 
timore appointed Philip Calvert governor, that any 
thing like order was re-established. The population 
of the colony was then computed at twelve thousand 
persons. 



OHAP. n. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 31 



CHAPTER II. 

First Efforts of the Plymouth Company — New England settled 
by the Puritans — New Patent granted to the Plymouth 
Company— Endicot's Expedition — Charter of the Governor 
and Company of Massachusetts Bay — Great Influx of Emi- 
grants — Religious Intolerance of the Colonists — Ineffectual 
Efforts to stop it— Disputes with the French Colonies — 
Massachusetts divided into Two Religious Parties — A Quo 
Warranto issued against its Charter^ — Settlement of Rhode 
Island — And of Connecticut — Wars with the Piquods — Set- 
tlement of Maine — And of Ncav Hampshire — Unwarrant- 
able Claims of Massachusetts' — Union of the New England 
Colonies against the Dutch and Indians — Dissensions in 
Massachusetts — Peace with the French Colonies — Effects of 
Religious Intolerance — Disputes between Massachusetts and 
Connecticut — Conspiracy of the Dutch and Indians — Foun- 
dation of Cambridge College — Rise of the Quakers. 

The first ship fitted out by the Plymouth Company^ 
in 1606, was captured by the Spaniards. In the fol- 
lowing year, however, Raleigh Gilbert set sail, with 
two other ships, and about one hundred persons; landed 
safely in America; and proceeded to build fort St. 
George, near the Sagahadoc. The severity of the 
winter carried off many of their numbers, — among the 
rest, Gilbert, their admiral, and George Popham, their 
president; and, in the spring, when they learned, by a 
vessel, which brought them supplies, that their patron. 



dS the united states chap. II. 

Sir John Popliam, was dead, they determined at once 
to abandon the country. Their terrific accounts of it, 
when they reached England, for a long time deterred 
the company from making any further attempts to co- 
lonize it. Some fur and fishing voyages were under- 
taken; one of which, in 1614, was under the com- 
mand of Captain John Smith; who explored the 
country from Penobscot to Cape Cod; and presented 
Charles, prince of Wales, with such a flattering map 
of its coast, that he was induced to give it the name of 
JVeio England. 

The first effectual settlement of New England was 
almost entirely accidental. The obscure sect of the 
Brownists had been driven from England to Holland; 
where, for the want of persecution, they found them- 
selves in danger of becoming utterly extinct; and, as 
the only means, therefore, of continuing their existence 
as a body, they resolved upon emigrating to America. 
In 1618, they petitioned the London company for a 
grant of lands, and their ' sovereign Lord King James' 
for a license to worship God in their own way. The 
former they were enabled to obtain; but, as the king 
had already established the English church in Virgi- 
nia, he could not openly and expressly assent to the 
latter. He made a verbal promise, however, to over- 
look their nonconformity: the dilapidating state of 
their affairs necessitated them to take up with that ; 



UHAP. 11. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 33 

and, in September, 1620, one hundred and twenty set 
sail from England, in a single ship. They intended 
to have settled on Hudson's River; but their Dutch 
pilot had been bribed by his countrymen to carry them 
somewhere else ; and the first land they came in sight 
of, was what Gosnald had called Cape Cod. The 
coast was explored for a convenient place of settle- 
ment; and the colony landed dit JVew Plymouth, on 
the nth of November; after having entered into a 
solemn covenant to erect themselves into a body poli- 
tic, and to frame a constitution of just and equal laws. 
They chose a governor; gave him one assistant imme- 
diately, and three more, in 1624. At first the supreme 
power was exercised by the whole body of freemen ; 
but, in 1639, they constituted a house of assembly, 
and adopted the law of England as their general rule 
of conduct. 

The season, in which they landed, was by no means 
favourable to their health: such a sect very naturally 
fell into the improvident scheme of labouring in com- 
mon ; and, before the return of spring, about fifty of 
their number were swept off by sickness and fatigue. 
The remainder were called away from their work, by 
the necessity of fighting the savages; and, had it not 
been for a pestilence, which swept off great numbers 
of their warriors, the history of this settlement would 
have ended here. But the Indians were soon reduced to 



34 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. H 

equitable terms. The insignificance of tlie colony 
secured them from the oppression of government : and 
they struggled on, peacefully and unnoticed, till 1630 ; 
when, by a petition to the New Plymouth company, 
they changed their naked title of occupancy into that 
of a formal and substantial grant. They now amounted 
to no more than three hundred persons ; and it was 
not till their union with a younger and more powerful 
colony, at Boston, that they were considered as of 
much importance. 

On the 3d of November, 1626, the original Ply- 
mouth company obtained from James a new patent : 
which, under the title of the ' Council established at 
Plymouth, for planting and governing that country 
called New England/ granted to the Duke of Lenox, 
the Marquis of Buckingham, and several others, the 
absolute property of the land lying between the fortieth 
and forty-eighth degrees of north latitude. Like the 
south and north Virginia colonies, they were em- 
powered to exclude all persons whatsoever from trad- 
ing and fishing within their boundaries; but this pro- 
vision so greatly exasperated the fur and fishing 
merchants, that parhament soon compelled the com- 
pany to relinquish it. They, in turn, resolved to make 
no more efforts to increase or improve their settle- 
ment; and New England would, for a long time, have 
remained unoccupied, had not the Puritans been vi- 
gorously persecuted in the mother country. They 



CHAP. II. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 35 

came over, and settled, in small parties, about Massa- 
chusetts Bay, — so called from an Indian Sachem: in 
March, 1627, the council of Plymouth granted to Sir 
Henry Rosvvell and others, all the lands between lines 
drawn to the South Sea, from three miles north of 
Merrimack, and three miles south of Charles, River; 
and, in September of the same year, a number of 
planters and servants, under Endicot, laid the founda- 
tion of Salem, the first permanent town in the colony. 
It was soon apparent, that, without more opulent 
partners, the settlement would never come to any 
thing. Such partners were easily found; but they 
would only embark in the enterprise, upon the condi- 
tion, that the grant to the council of Plymouth should 
be confirmed by a royal charter. Such a charter was 
accordingly issued on the 4t]i of March, 1 628. The 
name was changed to ' The Governor and Company 
of Massachusetts Bay in New England:^ the legisla- 
tive power was to be exercised by the whole body of 
proprietors; the executive, by a governor, a deputy 
governor, and eighteen assistants; but, notwithstanding 
all the experience of Virginia with her councils in 
London, the supreme control was vested in a body of 
men three thousand miles distant from the scene of 
government. The scheme was promoted by granting 
two hundred acres of land, for the first dividend, to 
pvery person who subscribed fifty pounds; and, in 



36 THE UMTED STATES OHAP. IL 

June, of the same year, two hundred emigrants, in five 
vessels, disembarked at Salem. The colony now 
amounted to three hundred persons; one-third of 
whom removed to Charlestown. As Brownism was 
the great end of the undertaking, the settlers proceed- 
ed to frame a system of polity conformable to its doc- 
trines, — and to refuse all others that toleration, for 
which they had themselves been the zealous advocates. 
The ' rising glories of the faithful' were somewhat ob- 
scured by the loss of half their number, in the follow- 
ing winter; but the survivors were not disheartened; 
and the same cause which drove their brethren to 
perish, in a new and inhospitable world;, continued to 
fill p the gaps, which their deaths had occasioned. 
The powers of government were, soon after, trans- 
ferred to New England, at the instance of several 
opulent persons, who would emigrate on no other 
terms; and, in July, 1630, seventeen ships arrived at 
Salem, with fifteen hundred more persons; a part of 
whom laid the foundation of Boston. But an ordinance 
of the general court, passed early in 1630, which ex- 
cluded all nonconformists from a participation in the 
only valuable privileges of freemen, — such, for in- 
stance, as the rights of suffrage, — and the intolerable 
persecution directed against every person, who did 
not live, according to the strictest principles of the 
sect, a Brownist, — induced Charles, on the 21st of 



CHAP. II. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 37 

February, to issue an order for stopping all ships, that 
were ready to sail with passengers for New England. 
The order does not appear to have been rigidly exe- 
cuted: emigration went on apace; and, in 1634, the 
numbers of the colony had increased so greatly, thai 
it became necessary to change their democratical 
meetings into a representative assembly. But such 
sturdy independents, both in religion and politics, soon 
attracted the wakeful jealousy of the English adminis- 
tration; who, in April, 1635, gave the archbishop of 
Canterbury the absolute power to re-model their con- 
stitutions; to support the clergy with tithes and obla- 
tions : to punish the refractory ; to revoke charters, 
and depose governors ; to pull down and raise up, in 
short, till the civil and ecclesiastical affairs of the co- 
lony should be in a more loyal and catholic way. In 
June, of the same year, the council of Plymouth sur- 
rendered their charter to the king; having tried, in 
vain, to make him confirm them in the separate pos- 
session of their several portions of the country. 

Nor was it in their internal relations alone, that 
the colonists now began to experience trouble. In 
1603, Henry IV. of France had commissioned De 
Mont to colonize all that part of America, which lies 
between the fortieth and forty-sixth degrees of north 
latitude. The same territory w^as included in the grant 
of 1620 to the Plymouth company, by James I.; who. 



38 THE UiMTED STATES CHAP. 11, 

as king of Scotland, also, had, in 1621, given to Sir 
William Alexander, the country which is now called 
Nova Scotia. Under these conflicting grants, actual 
settlements had been made, — by the French, as far 
as St. Croix, and by the English, as far as Penobscot. 
The respectives colonies were, of course, drawn into 
the war, which soon after broke out, between France 
and England. The French possessions were subdued 
by Captain Kirk, in 1639; but restored to France, in 
the treaty of St. Germains; and the two colonies 
would probably have long remained at peace, had not 
a French party committed a robbery on the* trading 
house, which the people of New Plymouth had esta- 
blished at Penobscot, in 1627. This outrage was 
followed by a more formidable assault, under Rossil- 
lon, in 1635; when the New Plymouth colony fitted 
out an expedition, under Girling, the commander of 
an English ship of war, in order to retake and main- 
tain their invaded possessions. Girling expended all 
his ammunition, without effecting any thing: neither 
New Plymouth nor Massachusetts Bay could send him 
any supplies of importance; and the only beneficial 
result of the undertaking was, to make the two colo- 
nies see the necessity of keeping firmly united. 

The MassacJiusctis settlement had the most to fear 
from divisions within itself. Mr. Henry Vane, son of 
.Sir Henry Vane, one of the king's favourite privy 



CHAP. II. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. DSf 

counsellors, landed in Boston, some time in 1635. 
With the age of twenty-five, he had the gravity of 
three score; and he so far outdid all others in reli- 
gious mortification and puritanical enthusiasm, that, 
as we should anticipate, he was, soon after, una- 
nimously appointed governor. Under his fostering 
administration, hardly any thing was done, but to 
attend public and private meetings, — stated and occa- 
sional lectures. All ranks were equally engaged in 
religious affairs; and, as the female sex were excluded 
from the private conferences, Mrs. Hutchinson, who 
had been flattered by the notice of Mr. Vane, con- 
cluded to set up for herself, and to institute a meeting 
of the sisters. By her persevering efforts, the colony 
was found to consist of two orders; one of which was 
under the Covenant of Grace, and the other, under 
the Covenant of Wor^ks. Herself, Governor Vane, 
the Rev. Mr. Cotton, and a few others, belonged to 
the former; Lieutenant Governor Winthrop, and the 
crowd without name, to the latter; and the two par- 
ties contended against each other, till Mrs. Hutchin- 
son was banished, and Mr. Vane quitted the country. 
We have seen, before, how little King Charles I, 
was obeyed, in his attempt to prevent emigration. In 
1637, he issued a second order, to the same effect: 
but the tide was too strong against him: crowds of 
discontents and puritans continued to seek the 'New 



40 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. II. 

' Jerusalem f even Pymm, Hampden, Ilazlerig, and 
Cromwell were once embarked for the purpose; and 
perhaps it would have been well for the king, if he 
had made tliem an exception to his edict. The com- 
missioners, ' for the regulation and government of the 
'plantations/ issued a quo ivarranto against the char- 
ter; but none of the corporation were served with it; 
and it was not until September, 1638, that an order of 
the privy council to send home their patent, brought 
the colonists to any thing like submission. They now 
prayed, that they might be ' heard before condemna- 
' tion, and that they might be suffered to live in the 
'wilderness;' and, fortunately for them, the king and 
the commissioners began to have sufficient business^ 
at home, to occupy the whole of their attention. 

The same cause, which drove the settlers of Mas- 
sachusetts from England, drove those of Rhode Island 
ii'om ?vlassachusetts. In 1634, Roger Williams, a 
popular preacher at Salem, was banished from the 
colony, for maintaining, among other ' damnable here- 
'sies,' that, so long as the peace of society is undis- 
turbed, no man should be punished for a matter of 
conscience. He crossed the line of Massachusetts, 
with many of his disciples; and, in 1635, founded the 
town of Providence, on a tract of land, which he pur- 
chased of the Narraghansetts. Thi^ happened before 
the controversy about the two ' Covenants:' and, 



€HAP, II. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 41 

when the Antinomian or Hutchinsonian party were 
overcome, their leader, with a train of disciples, fol- 
lowed the example of WilHams, and made a settlement 
in his neighbourhood. Both colonies proclaimed the 
most unbounded toleration; both cultivated the friend- 
ship of the aborigines; and both soon grew so popu- 
lous as to become, in turn, the parents of other co- 
lonies. 

During the same year, in which Williams was 
banished, Mr. Hooker, with several others, applied to 
the general court for permission to seek a new place 
of settlement. They were, at first, refused; but, in 
the following year, the court gave them a commission 
to go where they pleased, provided, that, wheresoever 
they settled, they should still acknowledge the juris- 
diction of Massachusetts. A few persons had already 
wintered in huts, on the west side of the Connecticut; 
about sixty others were added to the number, in the 
fall of 1635; and, in the following year, one hundred 
more, under Pynchon, Hooker, and Haynes, founded 
Hartford, Springfield, and Weathersfield. Roger Lud- 
low was intrusted, by the parent colony, with all their 
legislative and judicial concerns; though it was not 
pretended, that the new settlements were within the 
boundaries of Massachusetts. Indeed, they soon found 
themselves involved in a dispute about their title. 
♦The Dutch at Manhadoes claimed the country, by the 

p 



4>2 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. II. 

right of discovery; and a fort had been built at Say- 
brooke, by the direction of Lords Brooke, Say-and- 
Seal, and others, who were preparing a place of 
shelter from the inclemency of the times in England. 
The rights of the latter were bought up: the former 
were too feeble to maintain theirs by force; and the 
newcomers were, in a short time, left in the undis- 
puted possession of their lands. 

Undisputed, we mean, by any rival colony; for 
they soon had to contend with a much more formida- 
ble claimant than the Dutch of Manhadoes. The 
Piquod nation of Indians were so justly and so greatly 
alarmed at the encroachments of the settlers, that 
they even courted an alliance with their ancient ene- 
mies, the Narraghansetts; who, instead of acceding to 
the proposition, most impoliticly communicated it to 
the Massachusetts colony, and agreed to join them in 
a war against the Piquods. Sarracus, therefore, the 
chief sachem of the latter, now found himself obliged 
to fight, single-handed, against the united forces of 
Massachusetts, Plymouth, Connecticut, and Narra- 
ghansett. The Connecticut troops were soon in mo- 
tion: those of Massachusetts had first to terminate a 
quarrel, among themselves, about the ' Covenants;' 
and they did not reach the Piquod country, till the 
former had already reduced a very strong position at 
the head of Mystic River. Sarracus was posted^ 



CHAP. II. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 43 

about eight miles off: it was resolved to follow up the 
advantage, which had been already gained: the Piquods 
were beaten in every engagement; and so vigorously, 
indeed, did their enemies prosecute the war, that be- 
fore its termination, they ceased to exist as a people. 
Immediately after peace was restored, the colony of 
New Haven was settled by Eaton and Davenport; who 
landed at Boston, in June, 1G38; but determined to 
seek some other place, where the power and influence 
might be in their own hands. Their system of govern- 
ment, according to Dr. Stiles, was ' one of the wisest 
'ever devised by man;' the ' embryo of a perfect re- 
'pubhc;' the 'miniature' of our present constitu- 
tion. Each town took care of its own particular 
concerns; and, for the superintendence of the common 
interest, sent delegates to a general court, which ex- 
ercised both the legislative and judicial powers of ad- 
ministration. The court was divided into two branches; 
the deputies, who composed the legislature, and were 
elected twice a year; and the magistrates, or the go- 
vernor, deputy-governor, and two or three assistants, 
who formed the judiciary, and were chosen annually. 
As the settlement was headed by clergymen, it was 
natural to find some part for them to act. One of the 
ministers was, accordingly, appointed to dehver a ser- 
mon upon the day of election: but 'it was originally 
designed/ says president Stiles, ' that, however Moses 



44 THE UNITED STAPES CHAP. IL 

^ and Aaron should walk together in co-operative har- 
' mony, yet the ministers should not be eligible to the 
^ magistracy/ 

Nor was it in the south of New England alone, 
that new colonies were rising up. After some inef- 
fectual attempts to establish settlements at the mouth 
of the Piscataqua, and along the coast between the 
Merrimack and Sagadahock, a small colony, under 
Mr. Williams, sent over by Sir Ferdinando Gorges and 
Mr. John Mason, laid the foundation of Portsmouth, 
in 1632. When the members of the Plymouth com- 
pany took each his separate share of New England, 
Mason and Gorges succeeded in obtaining grants for 
the two countries, respectively, which we now call 
New Hampshire and Maine. In 1639, Sir Ferdinando 
obtained a patent, with the most ample powers of con- 
trol over his own district: he formed a code of laws for 
its government ; but no system of laws could arrest 
its progress to utter insignificance ; and the only way 
in which it preserved any existence at all, was, by sur- 
rendering itself to Massachusetts, in the course of 
1651 and 1652. 

The colony of New Hampshire succeeded but 
little better; till a number of Antinomians followed 
thither their banished niinister, Mr. Wheelriglit, a 
brother-in-law of Mrs. Hutchinson. Exeter was found- 
ed by them, in 1637; and Dover, by a fewpersons 



CHAP. II. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 45 

from England, in 1640. The two settlements were 
soon violently embroiled in the dispute about Cove- 
nants: words were, at length, exchanged foi* more 
substantial weapons; and, as the weaker party readily 
discovered, that their antagonists were getting the bet- 
ter of the argument, they sent to Portsmouth for Mr. 
Williams; who came to their aid with a small military 
force, and speedily settled the question, by the complete 
discomfiture of the Antinomians. 

Massachusetts, in the mean time, was fast becom- 
ing rich and populous. From the time of its first 
settlement, to the year 1639, it was computed, that 
twenty-one thousand two hundred emigrants had land- 
ed on its shores ; and, although all new-comers were 
straightway involved in the religious quarrels, which 
distracted the colony ; yet they found time and mo- 
tives enough to supply the perpetual demand for agri- 
cultural produce, which was kept up by the successive 
bodies of settlers, — and to obtain from England what 
manufactured articles they stood in need of, by their 
trade in fish, fur, and lumber. These prosperous cir- 
cumstances naturally made the colonies anxious to 
ascertain and define their real boundaries. It naturally 
led them, also, to hold the land in higher estimation 
than they had formerly done; and, when they came to 
construe that part of their charter, which directs the 
northern line to be drawn three miles north of the 



It) THE UiNITED STATES CHAP. II, 

Merrimack, they made it include the whole of New 
Hampshire, and a part of Maine, by running it east- 
ward, at the distance of three miles from the head of 
that river. We have already seen, that Maine acceded 
to the claim; and have only to add, that New Hamp- 
shire surrendered in like manner, in October, 1641. 

The times could not long continue so prosperous. 
The success of the republican cause, in England, put 
a stop to that influx of puritan emigration, which had 
so much contributed to promote the agriculture of the 
colony; and, indeed, the demand was so greatly and 
so suddenly lessened, that a milch-cow, for example, 
which would formerly have sold for twenty-five or 
thirty pounds, would not now bring more than from 
five to six. This change of circumstances but poor- 
ly fitted the colonists for carrying on a war; and 
yet, in May, 1643, Massachusetts, Plymouth, Con- 
necticut, and New Haven, were obliged to form an 
offensive and defensive union against the neighbouring 
Indians, and the Dutch at Manhadoes. The chief 
articles of the confederacy were, — that each colony 
should retain its separate jurisdiction; that the ex- 
pence of all wars should be borne proportionally by 
the whole; that each should furnish its quota of troops, 
on notice of invasion by three magistrates, — Massa- 
chusetts one hundred, and the three others, forty-five 
a piece; and that two commissioners should meet, on 



CHAP. II. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 47 

the first Monday of every September; choose them- 
selves a president, and proceed to the enactment of 
such laws as should relate to the general concerns of 
the union. Rhode Island was not originally admitted 
as a member: her petition to be received was rejected, 
in 1648; and she had no other way of securing herself 
against the hostility of the Indians, than that of assi- 
duously courting their friendship. In 1644, she ob- 
tained from the Narraghansetts a formal surrender of 
the country; and, in May, 1647, constituted a system 
of government like those of the other colonies. 

When Mr. Hooker applied to the general court 
of Massachusetts, for permission to establish himself 
and his friends on Connecticut River, a circumstance 
occurred, in the vote upon the question, which led to 
the separation of the different branches of the govern- 
ment. A majority of the assistants voted against the 
petition; a majority of the representatives, for it; and, 
as neither party would yield to the other, a day of hu- 
miliation and prayer was appointed; nor was it till the 
opening of the next session, that a sermon by Mr. Cot- 
ton induced the representatives to relinquish the point 
for the present. The dispute was revived, in 1643; 
when it was agreed, that the future deliberations of 
the two bodies should be held in separate chambers. 
But their controversies did not stop here. The re- 
presentatives disliked the exclusive power of the ma- 



48 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. II. 

gistrates, during the recess; and they sent up a bill, for 
adding some of their own number to the commission. 
The bill was rejected: they requested the magistrates 
to suspend their authority till the next session: the re- 
quest was refused: ' Then/ said the speaker, ^ you will 
^ not be obeyed;' and thus the assembly was dissolved. 
But, at the next session, the ministers of the gospel 
decided — and the deputies thought it a sin to contra- 
dict the decision, — that the governor, deputy-governor, 
and assistants, were alone invested with the executive 
part of the administration. 

Both parties only ceased to quarrel with each 
other, to involve themselves in the quarrel of the 
English parliament. They were, of course, in favour 
of the commons; wdio, in March, 1642, exempted the 
colonies, till further orders, from the payment of du- 
ties or other customs; and they, in return, passed an 
ordinance, some time in 1644, by which the royal 
cause was effectually prevented from gaining ground 
in the commonwealth. So bigotted were they, indeed, 
in the cause of puritanism and democracy, that, when, 
in 1643, the Earl of Warwick was vested, by parlia- 
ment, with the absolute and sovereign control over all 
New England, their dislike of the measure was not 
manifested even in a petition or remonstrance. In 
1644, however, some amends were made, by renewing 
the exemption from taxes, till the two houses should. 



CHAP. II. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 49 

otherwise direct; and, two years afterwards, the remu- 
neration was made still more complete, by exempting 
the colonies, during three years, from every tallage, 
except the excise. As fortune, also, seemed to be once 
more on their side, the controversy with the French 
colonies was terminated in a treaty of peace, dated in 
October, 1644. 

External peace was followed, as usual, by internal 
dissension. Several very respectable characters, — 
who, according to the original principle of the colonial 
government, had been excluded from the common 
rights of men, because they did not belong to the esta- 
blished church, — laid a petition before the general 
court; praying, that, as they were not permitted to 
enjoy the privileges, so they might be released from 
the burthens, of civil society. This was a new thing 
under the sun: the petitioners were, by no means, 
sparing of censure upon the proceedings of the colony; 
and it was deemed proper, that they should be brought 
before the bar of the general court. Securities for 
their good behaviour were required: they would not 
give them: the court fined them discretionally: they 
claimed an appeal; were refused; and had, finally, 
to seek redress, by sending deputies to parliament 
Mr. Cotton predicted in the pulpit, '^that if any should 

* carry writings or complaints against the people of 

* God. in that countrv. to Ensfland, it sJiould be as 



50 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. II. 

*^ Jonas in the ship.' The sailors had heard of the pro- 
phesy; and, as it was next to impossible, that a voyage 
of three thousand miles should be performed, without 
some boisterous weather, they pretty soon had an op- 
portunity of casting the ill-fated credentials into the 
sea. Thomas Wild, Hugh Peters, and William Hib- 
bins, the three fit agents of the colony, had learned 
the nature of the expedition; and, when the deputies 
of the malcontents arrived in England, they found 
parliament in no mood for listening to their represen- 
tations. 

About the same time, Mr. Winthrop, a very 
worthy magistrate, was charged with tyrannical con- 
duct, in the execution of his official duties. He 
defended himself at the bar; obtained an honourable 
acquittal; and was ever after, during his life, chosen 
governor of the colony. But the most important event 
of this period, was the settlement of a dispute between 
Massachusetts and Connecticut, concerning a tax, 
which the latter had imposed upon the inhabitants of 
Springfield, for keeping the fort at Saybrooke in 
repair. The parties were heard before the commis- 
sioners of the union, in 1646. Massachusetts insisted, 
that Connecticut had no right to tax another colony: 
Connecticut answered, that the fort at Saybrooke, as 
it protected the whole river, was as advantageous to 
Springfield as to itself: Massachusetts denied, that it 



CHAP. 11. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 51 

could resist a vessel of force; and the commissioners 
adjourned the meeting, without deciding which was 
in the right. They convened again, in 1648; and, 
without coming to any final determination, recom- 
mended, that a line should be run, in order to ascer- 
tain whether Springfield was, in fact, a part of Mas- 
sachusetts. The deputies of that colony immediately 
produced an ordinance of their general court; by 
which their collectors were directed to exact a duty 
upon all goods, exported or imported by Plymouth, 
Connecticut, or New Haven. The three latter re- 
commended Massachusetts to consider, whether this 
proceeding were conformable to the Maw of love;' 
begging, at the same time, that they might have no 
^further agitations about Springfield.' Fort Say- 
brooke, in the mean while, was consumed by fire; and, 
as Connecticut took no pains to rebuild it, Massachu- 
setts terminated the controversy, in 1649, by repeal- 
ing the oflfensive ordinance of taxation. 

The English administration were so exclusively 
occupied with domestic affairs, that they had no time 
to make their distant possessions feel the ties of de- 
pendence. The united colonies acted very much as 
they pleased. They had traded freely with all the 
world; had made peace with the French in Canada, 
and with the Dutch at Manhadoes; and, when, in 
16.51, the parliament called on Massachusetts to 



52 THE UNITED STATES OHA?. 11, 

accept a new patent^ and to cany on all proceedings 
in its name, the colony professed the most entire sub- 
mission to parliament, — and paid no farther regard to 
its demands. In the war, too, between England and 
Holland, the colonists did not think themselves bound 
to fall upon the Dutch at Manhadoes; and, had not 
the latter been detected in a conspiracy with the 
Indians, for the extirpation of their neighbours, there 
would probably have been no rupture of the peace, 
which already subsisted between them. When the 
existence of this conspiracy was proved to the satis- 
faction of the elders, a majority of the commissioners 
declared for immediate war; but the general court 
of Massachusetts refused to be bound by the vote; and 
the two colonies, which were the most in danger, 
Connecticut and New Haven, were obliged to send 
over an application to the Protector Cromwell. He 
promptly despatched a small naval and military force; 
and, at the same time, sent a recommendation to Mas- 
sachusetts, that she should lend her assistance. This 
advice was not to be slighted. The general court 
authorized the officers of Cromwell to raise five hun- 
dred volunteers within their dominions: Connecticut 
and New Haven were busy with preparation; and, 
perhaps, nothing but the peace of 1651 could have 
saved the Dutch colony from total annihilation. The 
troops already raised were now turned against the 



CHAP. II. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 53 

French possessions; which very promptly surrendered; 
and, though redenianded at the treaty of Westminster, 
were left to the result of future discussion ; and were 
soon after granted, for ever, to St. Etienne, Crown, 
and Temple. 

It was during the protectorate, that the colony of 
Massachusetts saw its most prosperous days. Its ex- 
emption from all commercial duties could not but 
cause it to grow rich: riches naturally introduced the 
refinements of more pohshed society; and, among the 
other beneficial results, four hundred pounds were 
bestowed by the general court, upon a public school 
at Newtown, (now Cambridge,) so early as 1636. 
The endowment was soon after greatly increased by 
Mr. John Harvard; in 1642, the school was exalted 
to a college; and, in 1650, obtained a charter of incor- 
poration. For these, and for a variety of other acts, 
the colony is entitled to our warmest praise; though, 
at the same time, there was such a spirit of canting 
and intolerant bigotry in all they did, that our praise 
must be taken with many grains of qualification. 
Their conduct towards other sects appears the more 
unpardonable, because it was an apostacy from theii" 
former professions, and added impohcy to intolerance. 
They punished others for exercising those religious 
rights, which they so strenuously asserted in the mo- 
ther country: and were so weak as to suppose, that 



54 THE UNIl'ED STATES CHAP. 11. 

new denominations of Christians might be kept down^ 
by the scourge and the gallows. The event proved 
how httle they knew of human nature, and how little 
they had learnt from experience. The quakers grew 
under their auspices, and were established by their 
persecutions. 

Indeed, it is chiefly to religious intolerance that 
we must attribute the comparative rapidity, with 
which New England was colonized. Its first planters 
were bigots and enthusiasts. Every individual was 
more or less occupied with rehgious topics; and, as it 
was impossible, that all should think alike, different 
persons frequently hit upon principles, or found au- 
thorities in Scripture, which militated against the 
general doctrines of the sect. An attempt to sup- 
press such principles, or to controvert these autho- 
rities, was considered as an infringement of that reli- 
gious liberty, which they had all quitted their native 
country to enjoy. The disputant grew stubborn by 
opposition; was denounced as a heretic; and, gaining 
followers as a persecuted man, became the leader of 
a new sect, and, like the parent colony, departed, to 
exercise freedom of conscience in another land. 
New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Connecticut 
were thus settled; and, no sooner had they become 
somewhat numerous, than intolerance produced new 
sects, and new sects founded new settlements. Many 



CHAP. 11. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 55 

of the towns in Connecticut were settled in this man- 
ner; and some could not have been settled in any 
other. 

Nothing but motives of religious enthusiasm could 
have induced these successive swarm.s to bear the 
hardships, which they were compelled to undergo. 
Placed in the midst of the hostile aborigines, they 
durst not sow their fields, for they knew not, that they 
should reap the harvest; and, such were the famines, 
which sometimes occurred, that they were reduced 
almost to a state of nature, and obliged to subsist 
upon acorns. The Indians were paid for their lands j 
but, as soon as the purchase-money was gone, they 
violated their treaties; and, knowing themselves to be 
the strongest party, continued to exact contributions, 
make and break treaties, until the settlers grew pow- 
erful enough to defend themselves, and, at last, to 
extirpate their enemies. Sectarian fanaticism was 
able to keep up those settlements, which the mere 
hopes of gain would never have continued; and it is 
worthy of remark, that, though Virginia was founded 
more than a dozen years before New England, the 
population of the latter, in 1673, was three times as 
great as that of the former. 



5& THE UNITED STATES CHAP. III. 



CHAPTER III. 

Different Effects of the Restoration upon New England and 
Virginici — Disputes between Massachusetts and New Ha- 
ven — Disloyal Proceedings in Massachusetts — Effects of 
the Navigation-Act — Grant of the Duke of York — Appoint- 
ment of Commissioners to govern the Colonies — Expedi- 
tion against Manhadoes — Disputes between the Commis- 
sioners and Massachusetts — Carolina settled — Locke's Con-> 
stitution — Internal Dissensions in Carolina — Poverty of that 
Colony — Bacon's Insurrection in Virginia — Change in her 
Judiciary — Population and Military Force — Population and 
Military Force of New England— War with Philip — Boun- 
dary settled between Massachusetts and New Hampshire— 
The latter erected into a Royal Government — A Quo War- 
ranto issued against the Charter of Massachusetts — Project 
of Consolidating the Colony- — Dissensions in New York — 
Disputes between that Colony and New Jersey'^Overthrow 
of the Royal Government in New York — Settlement of 
Pennsylvania — New Charter for Massachusetts — Restora- 
tion of the Royal Government in New York — War with the 
French and Indians — Fort Pamaquid built — Comparative 
Force of the Colonies in 1695 — War with Canada — With 
the Spanish Colonies — Between Carolina and the Indians- 
Dissensions in New York — Boundary settled between Mas- 
sachusetts and Connecticut — Yale College. 

As it cannot have been forgotten, that Virginia took 
part with the royalists, daring the civil war in Eng- 
land, — and as we have just seen how zealously New 
England espoused the other side of the quarrel, — it 
scarcely needs to be added, that the restoration of 
Charles II. was attended with very different conse- 
quences to these respective portions of his empire. 



(JHAP. Ilf. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. » 57 

The five per cent, duty was extended to the latter: 
the navigation act was revived: all English commerce 
was to be carried on by Enghsh seamen, in English 
ships; and, under the title of Enume^^ated Commodi- 
ties, all sugar, tobacco, ginger, fustic, or other dye- 
woods, indigo, cotton, and, afterwards, rice, molasses, 
and copper ore, were to be transported from the re- 
spective countries of production, directly to some 
place belonging to the crown of England. Virginia 
was, of course, subjected to these restrictions: but 
she was compensated, in a measure, by obtaining a 
monopoly of the tobacco-tj'ade; and the king showed 
her still further marks of his favour, by re-appointing 
Sir William Berkeley to the governorship, and by pro- 
claiming a general pardon to all those, who had been 
misled into the opposition of his cause. 

On the other hand, however, his majesty demand- 
ed a repeal of all the offensive acts, which had been 
passed during the late rebellion; and it was in March, 
1661, that the assembly met, for the purpose of ex- 
punging 'air that were "^ unnecessary;' 'and chiefly 
' such as might keep in memory their forced deviation 
"^from his majesty's obedience.' Some other neces- 
sary legislative business was transacted: an ineffectual 
attempt was made to encourage the growth of silk; 
but the only act of much consequence, was that of 
imposing duties, for the first time, upon the exporta- 

n 



58 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. liL 

tioii of tobacco. In Maryland, nothing took place, 
worthy of particular mention. Rhode Island promptly 
acknowledged King Charles II.; and, in July, 1683, 
obtained, in return, a charter of incorporation; which 
placed the ' Governor and Company of the Enghsh 
Colony of Rhode Island and Providence^ upon the 
same footing with the other English colonies. Con- 
necticut manifested neither joy, nor sorrow; but, in 
April, 1662, Mr. Winthrop, who had been delegated 
to govern it, obtained a charter, similar to that of 
Rhode Island and of the other colonies. 

The boundaries, as defined in this charter, were 
very nearly those of the present state; and it could 
hardly have been expected, therefore, that New 
Haven, which was an independent colony, would 
quietly submit to its authority. She adhered, with 
determined perseverance, to her right of separate 
government; and Mr. Winthrop was induced to pro- 
mise, that a junction should not take place, without 
her consent: but the assembly proceeded to exercise 
the 'unbrotherly and unrighteous' powers of jurisdic- 
tion over her towns; and she was, at last, under the 
necessity of laying her case before the commissioners 
of the united colonies. They decided in favour of 
New Haven: Connecticut paid no regard to the deci- 
sion; and both parties were proceeding to very serious 
extremes, — when the news of the king's grant of 



CHAP. III. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 59 

Manliadoes to the Duke of York, and of the appoint- 
ment of commissioners for the settlement of colonial 
disputes, first suspended, and finally extinguished the 
quarrel. The commissioners of the colonies, as well 
as those of the crown, were now in favour of the union; 
and, after a long process of negotiation, the compact 
was at last established; and representatives sent from 
both provinces to the general assembly. 

As the news of Charles the Second's restoration 
was somewhat equivocal, Massachusetts not only took 
no measures to recognise his authority, — but demon- 
strated very clearly, that she was opposed to his cause, 
by giving an affectionate welcome to Goffe and Whal- 
ley, two of the judges, who signed the death-warrant 
of his father.* In October, 1660, indeed, an address 
to the king was moved; but, as England was yet un- 
settled, the general court thought fit to decline the 
measure; and the only remarkable occurrence of the 
session, was the proscription of a book, entitled The 
Christian Commonwealth, which they found ' full of 
^seditious principles.' On the SOth of November, 
however, a ship from Bristol brought positive intelli- 
gence of the restoration. The address could be no 
longer postponed; but, in the quaint instrument, which 
they indited for the occasion, very good care was 
taken to mix up, with their expressions of loyalty, an 

* See Note (E). 



(30 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. IIT. 

abundance of cant phrases concerning the preserva- 
tion of their own civil and reh'gious hberty. Reports 
were soon after abroad, that their commerce with Vir- 
ginia was to be interdicted; and that three frigates 
were bringing over a governor general for all the co- 
lonies. The sincere disposition of Massachusetts was 
soon manifest, in a series of solemn resolves, — that 
her patent was her constitution; that it empowered 
the governor and company to make freemen; that the 
freemen have a right to choose the officers of govern- 
ment; and that, saving the laws of England, this go- 
vernment is alone invested with the legislative and 
executive powers of the colony. ' As in duty bound/ 
they did, indeed, ' own and acknowledge' the king; 
but, to show how little cordiality there was in the ac- 
knowledgment, all disorderly behaviour, and drinking 
of his majesty's health, was strictly prohibited. These 
proceedings did not fail to reach the ears of the king; 
and so diligent were the enemies of the colony in ex- 
aggerating her disloyalty, that the general ct)urt was, 
at length, under the necessity of sending over agents, 
to remove unfavourable impressions, and to obtain a 
confirmation of their charter. Their prayer was, in- 
deed, granted; but the agents returned with a letter, 
which required an almost total revolution in their 
church and state. The agents were treated with con- 
tempt; and the requisitions very little attended to. 



CHAP. III. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 61 

In 1663, England drew the finishing stroke to her 
Gommercial monopoly, by enacting, that no European 
commodity should be transported to her distant pos- 
sessions, without having first touched at her own 
shores, and without being on board of English ships, 
manned with English sailors. There were some un- 
important exceptions; and the measure was partially 
counterbalanced, by enforcing the prohibition to culti- 
vate tobacco in England, and by laying duties upon all 
salt and fish, imported by foreigners. New England 
paid little regard to these restrictions; and they very 
soon soured the good humour, which Virginia had dis- 
played at the restoration of the king. The dissatisfac- 
tion of the latter colony was greatly increased, by the 
continual fall in the price of tobacco. Several acts 
were made, to arrest its progress, or to remedy its 
effects; but their framers showed very little knowledge 
of political economy, or of human nature, when they 
undertook to do the one, by prohibiting, for a time, the 
culture of tobacco at all, — or to effect the other, by 
giving a priority of payment to those debts, which were 
contracted in the colony. They forgot, that tobacco 
might be raised in other places besides Virginia; that 
the prohibition of its culture there, would only shut 
the mouths of one set of complainants, to open those of 
another; and that foreigners must soon cease to trade 



i)2 THE UiVITED STATES CHAP. HI, 

with a colony, which could thus deliberately resolve to 
cheat them out of their debts. 

It was in March, 1664, that the king granted to 
the Duke of York an indefinite extent of territory, in- 
cluding, besides Manhadoes, the whole of New Jer- 
sey, and a great part of the present states of Connec- 
ticut and New York, as well as the islands of Mar- 
tha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Colonel Nichols, and 
four commissioners, sailed in four frigates, to take 
possession of the territory; and to assume a general 
power of superintending all the civil, criminal, and 
military affairs of New England. When the news 
reached this country, Massachusetts set apart a day 
for fasting and prayer; and appointed a committee to 
repair on board of the ships, as soon as they should 
arrive, and request the commanders to let but a few 
men go on shore at a time, and to give them particu- 
lar caution against doing any thing disorderly or offen- 
sive. Colonel Nichols, and the other commissioners, 
landed in July, and proceeded to lay before the coun- 
cil a letter from the king; which required, that prompt 
assistance should be given to the project of subduing 
New Netherlands. The general court resolved to 
'bear faith and true allegiance to his majesty;' to 
' adhere to their patent, so dearly obtained, and so long 
' enjoyed, by undoubted right in the sight of God and 
'man;' — and to raise two hundred soldiers. Nichols 



OHAP. III. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 63 

proceeded immediately to Manhadoes; and the sur- 
render of the Dutch governor rendered the co-opera- 
tion of the Massachusetts troops unnecessary. 

Notwithstanding the submission, which the Dutch 
had paid to Captain Argal, in 1614, they returned to 
their former allegiance in the following year. In 1621, 
the states general granted their lands to the West 
India company; who built fort Nassau^ on the east side 
of Delaware Bay, — and fort Good Hope, on the west 
side of Connecticut, or, as they called it. Fresh River. 
The encroachments of New England obliged the 
Dutch to look to the south. Fort Casimir (Newcastle). 
on the Delaware, was built in 1651; captured, soon 
after, by the Swedes; and retaken, along with the 
Swedish town of Christiana, in 1655, In the follow- 
ing year, the Dutch made a settlement at Henlopen. 
Lord Baltimore sent an order for its removal: the 
order was disregarded; and the intruders held posses- 
sion, till the place was conquered by Nichols. When 
the latter gentleman first appeared before New Am- 
sterdam, Governor Stuyvesant was determined to hold 
out against him; but, as his people chose the promise 
of the English king's protection, in preference to that, 
which he was likely to afford them, he, at last, found 
himself obliged to subscribe a capitulation. The town 
was thenceforward called New York; and the island, 
York Island. Mr. Carteret subdued fort Oransre 



0"^ The united states chap, hi, 

(Albany), on the 24tli of September, 1664; and Sir 
Robert Carr had conquered the country on the Dela- 
ware, by about the first of October. Nichols took 
possession of the whole territory; but, in November, 
1665, he surrendered what is now New Jersey to 
Lord Berkeley and Sir George Carteret; who had 
obtained a conveyance from the Duke of York, as 
early as June, 1661. 

After the conquest of New Netherlands, the 
commissioners proceeded to exercise their powers of 
control over the provinces of New England. In 
Plymouth and Rhode Island, they met with no opposi- 
tion: but the people of Massachusetts considered them 
as legalized usurpers of authority, and drew up an 
earnest and energetic address to their master; ending 
with this remarkable sentence: — ' Let our government 
' live, our patent live, our magistrates live, our reli- 
^gious enjoyments live, so shall we all have further 
^ cause to say, from our hearts, let the king live for 
'ever.' The correspondence between the general 
court and the commissioners began in April, 1665. 
It soon degenerated into altercation; and, when the 
commissioners had vainly exhausted their patience, 
in reasoning and menace, they thought of bringing the 
subject to a close, by summoning the governor and 
company before them. The general court announced 
their disapprobation of the step, by the sound of the 



C«AP. III. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 65 

trumpet; and they solemnly declared, that their duty 
to God and his majesty forbade them to countenance 
such tyrannical proceedings. It was easy to see, that 
submission, here, was out of the question; and the. 
commissioners proceeded to New Hampshire and 
Maine; where they established the claims of Mason 
and Gorges, and put the country under a system of 
royal government. The general court of Massachu- 
setts protested, that these transactions tended to dis- 
turb the public peace; and, though the commissioners 
refused all conference on the subject, New Hampshire 
and Maine were soon afterwards brought again under 
the protection of their old mistress. When Charles 
heard of these things, he ordered, that agents should 
be sent to England by the general court, to explain 
and clear up their conduct. They first doubted the 
authenticity, and never complied with the requisitions, 
of the letter. 

In the mean time, new colonies were rising up in 
the south. As early as 1514, Ponce de Leon, a 
Spanish navigator, gave the name of Florida to the 
northern coast of the Mexican Gulf; and the whole 
continent was thence called Florida, till Elizabeth 
bestowed upon it the title of Virginia. In 1523-4-5, 
the coast was accurately explored by Varazan, an 
Italian: in 1562, a French colony, under one Ribaud, 
built fort Charles, on the Edisto; and, two years af- 

I 



6G THE UNITED STATES ^HAP. IK. 

tenvards, a more numerous body of emigrants, under 
one Laudoniere, made a settlement on May, now Si 
Matheo River. The emigrants were all piassacred 
by the Spanish; and, though they were revenged by 
Chevaher Gourgues, no permanent settlement was 
ever effectuated. Fifteen years afterwards. Sir Wal- 
ter Raleigh commenced his abortive attempts at colo- 
nization; and, in 1630, Sir Robert Heath obtained a 
grant of the country; but never carried it into execu- 
tion. Some emigrants from Massachusetts had set- 
tled about Cape Fear; but it was not until 1663, — 
when the land from the River St. Matheo to the 36th 
degree of north latitude, was, under the name of Ca- 
rolina, granted in absolute property to Lord Clarendon, 
and a number of others, — that any effectual steps were 
taken towards a permanent colony. The proprietors 
immediately adopted measures to encourage emigra- 
tion; establishing a constitution, by which the governor 
was to be chosen by thirteen electors, nominated by 
the people; proclaiming the utmost toleration of reli- 
gion; and allowing every freeman one hundred, and 
every servant fifty, acres of land, at the trifling rate 
of half a penny the acre. 

A settlement, which had been made by some Vir- 
ginians, around Albemarle Sound, was put under the 
^-supervision of Sir William Berkeley; who was em- 
powered to make grants of land, and to appoint a go- 



OHAP. III. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 67 

vernor and council. The proprietors next proceeded 
to erect the territory, extending from Cape Fear to St. 
Matheo River, into a county under the name of Claren- 
don; which, in 1665, was put under the government 
of Mr. John Yeamans, an emigrant from Barbadoes. 
Another settlement was made south of Cape Romain; 
and, in June, the company obtained a new charter, 
which comprehended all the land extending north- 
eastward to Carahtuke Inlet; thence to Wyonok, in 
36° 30' north latitude; south-westward to the twenty- 
ninth parallel; and from the Atlantic to the South Sea, 
The inhabitants of Albemarle cultivated Indian corn 
and tobacco: they received their supplies from New 
England; and, in order to encourage emigration, their 
legislature enacted, that, for five years, no person 
should be sued for a debt contracted abroad. 

But they were destined, soon after, to receive a 
system of laws from a more exalted source. The 
proprietors applied to Mr. Locke; who, because he 
was an acute and profound reasoner, both in abstract 
politics and in metaphysics, would, they imagined, be 
able to frame an admirable body of practical constitu- 
tions. The outlines of his system were these: — One 
of the proprietors, chosen palatine for life, was to be 
the president of a palatine court, composed of all 
those, who were entrusted with the execution of the 
charter: and, for the mobility, th^re was to be a set 



68 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. lil- 

of landgraves and caciques; the former having, each 
four hereditary baronies, of four thousand acres each; 
the latter, half of the number, of half the extent. 
These, with the proprietors, or their deputies, and the 
representatives of the freeholders, were to constitute a 
parliament, and to vote, as a single body, in the same 
apartment. All bills were to originate, and to be 
prefaced, in a grand council of the governor, the 
nobility, and the deputies of the proprietors; and, at 
the end of every century, all laws were to be void, 
without any formal repeal. The Duke of Albemarle 
was chosen first palatine; but his death, soon after, 
gave place to Lord Berkeley. Mr. Locke became a 
landgrave; and all the proprietors had high offices. 

In January, 1670, William Sargle made a settle- 
jnent at Port Royal; which, before 1679, had cost the 
proprietors eighteen thousand pounds. It was govern- 
ed by the founder, till August 1676; when he fell a 
victim to the climate, and was succeeded, in the go- 
vernment, by Sir John Yeamans. Old CharUsloini 
was founded in the same year. But, w^hile these 
events were taking place in the south, some less pro- 
pitious circumstances occurred in the Albemarle co- 
lony. In 1670, the inhabitants were exasperated, by 
an attempt of Governor Stephens to introduce Mr. 
Locke's constitution: their ill temper was increased by 
a report^ that the proprietors meditated a dismember- 



CHAP. III. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. <}9 

ment of the colony; nor was it at all assuaged, by the 
endeavours of the company to cut off their trade with 
New England. In 1677, the malcontents found a 
leader in Culpeper, the surveyor-general of Carolina; 
and they composed so great a portion of the people, 
that it was not long before they had completely revo- 
lutionized the government. The tithables of the co- 
lony, namely, all white men, together with negro and 
Indian women, between sixteen and sixty, — were 
ascertained to be only fourteen hundred; and the 
whole exports, exclusive of cattle and corn, were not 
more than eight hundred thousand pounds of tobacco. 
Culpeper continued governor till 1683; when Seth 
Sothel arrived. He had bought Lord Clarendon's 
interest; was appointed governor in 1680; and was 
banished the country, for twelve months, in 1688. 
The five years of his administration had been little 
else than a series of bribery, extortion, breach of 
trust, and disobedience of orders. 

A considerable period elapsed, before the occur- 
rence of any other important event in Carolina. As 
an evidence of her poverty, we may mention, that, 
when Mr. Joseph West, the mercantile agent of the 
proprietors, succeeded to the governorship, in the 
place of Sir John Yeamans, he was obliged to receive 
his salary in plantation and mercantile stock. In 
April, 1679, Charles made an abortive attempt to 



70 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. HI. 

cultivate wine, oil, silk, and other southern produc- 
tions; and, about the same period, the present city of 
Charleston was founded, and made the seat of govern- 
ment. For a long time, the colony was at enmity 
with the Spanish settlement of St. Augustine. But 
nothing of much consequence occurred, till the year 
1693; when, after having struggled, in vain, to sup- 
port a constitution, which was no way adapted to their 
cii'cumstances, the colony renounced the system of 
Mr. Locke, and resumed their old form of govern- 
ment. 

In the mean time, the colony of Virginia was 
labouring under new difficulties. The price of to- 
bacco would still decrease, in spite of every exertion 
to stop it: the Indians were hostile: the king made 
large grants of land to his favourites; and, in 1676, 
just as the agents of the colony were about to obtain 
a compliance with its wishes on this head, a formidable 
rebelhon, under Colonel Nathaniel Bacon, — a bold, 
ambitious, and fluent young man, who had been no- 
minated to the council, — threatened to involve the 
country in still greater calamities. He harangued the 
people upon their manifold grievances; — and when 
did the people ever turn a deaf ear to such harangues? 
He was appointed their general; and, entering James- 
town, at the head of six hundred armed followers, 
applied to the governor for a commission. It was be- 



CHAP. III. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 71 

stowed, of course; but, as soon as Bacon was beyond 
the capital, the governor caused him to be proclaimed 
a rebel. He immediately returned; and the governor 
fled to Accomack. The insurgents held a convention; 
inveighed against the governor for fomenting civil 
war, and abdicating his office; declared, that it be- 
hoved them to suppress all disturbances, till the colony 
was rightly represented to the king, by the deputies 
of Nathaniel Bacon; and concluded their manifesto, 
by recommending an oath, to join their general against 
the common enemy, and to assist in apprehending all 
evil-disposed persons. The governor collected a small 
band of followers: a civil war ensued: Jamestown 
was burnt by the insurgents; and the colony was suf- 
fering under all the evils of such a war, — when, in 
January, 1677, the death of Bacon brought them to 
a close. Sir William Berkeley resumed the govern- 
ment; but returned to England soon after; and was 
succeeded by Hubert Jeffreys; who, soon after his 
arrival, effectuated a peace with the Indians. 

Until 1680, the general court of Virginia was 
composed of the counsellors; the supreme appellate 
jurisdiction being exercised by the whole assembly. 
In that year, Governor Culpeper instituted a question, 
whether the counsellors could lawfully sit in an 
assembly, who heard appeals from their own deci- 
sions^ The burgesses claimed the exclusive right o( 



12 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. III. 

judging in the last resort; and the controversy ended, 
as Lord Culpeper probably expected it would, by 
making the judgments of the general court final, in 
cases of less value than three hundred pounds; with 
a right of appeal, in those of greater amount, to the 
king in council. From this time to the revolution of 
1688, the history of Virginia is barren of all interest. 
Tobacco continued at a low price; and several per 
sons were executed for endeavouring to enhance it, 
by destroying the plant in the bed, when it w^as too 
late to sow the seed again. In June, 1671, Sir Wil- 
liam Berkeley estimated the population at forty thou- 
sand souls; and, by an official return of General 
Smith, in 1680, it appears, that the military force of 
the colony consisted of seven thousand two hundred 
and sixty-eight infantry, and thirteen hundred cavalry. 
About the same time, New England is said to 
have contained four times as many inhabitants, and 
double the number of militia. This difference is a 
sufficient indication of prosperity; and prosperity re- 
sulted chiefly from a neglect of all commercial restric- 
tions, — and from the quiet, in which the plague, the 
fire of London, and the discontents of the English 
people, necessitated the mother-country to leave her 
distant possessions. But, in 1670, a plan was laid, in 
another quarter, for the interruption of this prosper- 
ous repose. Philip, second son of Massassoet, pro- 



CHAP. III. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 7S 

jected, and, by 1675, his activity had brought about, 
a general combination of all the Indian tribes, in New 
England, against the white invaders of their territory. 
No intimation of the plan transpired, till it was effec- 
tually ripe; when the Indians fell suddenly upon the^ 
white inhabitants; and scarcely a family escaped, 
without the loss of a relative or friend. But Philip, 
at length, lost his own family and counsellors; was 
killed himself, by one of his own people, in August, 
1676; and the want of another adequate leader ne- 
cessitated his followers to submit. The warriors 
under his own immediate command had never ex- 
ceeded five hundred; but his whole force, exclusive 
of the eastern Indians, was estimated at three thou- 
sartd. 

In the midst of the Indian war, Massachusetts 
had to renew the discussion of the claims, set up by 
Mason and Gorges, to New Hampshire and Maine. 
As the general court had evaded the frequent efforts 
of Charles to bring them before his council, he de- 
puted Edward Randolph, in 1676, to advertise them 
of his resolution to give judgment on the other side, 
unless an appearance should be entered within six 
months. The appearance, however, was of httle 
avail; for, although representatives were promptly 
despatched by the court, it was decided by the king, 
in council, that the boundary of xVlassachusetts should 

K 



74 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. Ill, 

not be consti'ued to rim more than three miles north 
of the Merrimack. A royal government was consti- 
tuted for New Hampshire, in 1676; and Massachu- 
setts was obliged to give Gorges twelve hundred 
pounds for the recovery of Maine. Nothing but the 
poverty of Charles had prevented him from buying 
both of these provinces, for his favourite son, the 
Duke of Monmouth. The purchase of Massachusetts, 
therefore, was a great aggravation of her manifold 
delinquencies; and they were again rendered more 
flagrant by the ill success of Mr. Randolph, in en- 
forcing obedience to the navigation laws. In 1681, 
complaints, from all sides, had become so formidable, 
that the general court saw the necessity of appointing 
agents, to represent the colony in England; thougli 
special caution was given to those agents, against con- 
senting to any measure, which would infringe the 
liberties secured by the charter. Their powers were 
declared insufficient; and they were told, that a quo 
■warranto would immediately issue against the colony, 
unless more satisfactory ones should be obtained. 
Some efforts were made to render the colony submis- 
sive; but the people determined, throughout, 'that it 
'^ was better to die by other hands than their own;' 
and they, accordingly, died by the hands of the high 
court of chancery, in the Trinity Term of 1684. 
Charles did not long survive this decree; but the 



CHAP. III. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 7$ 

colonists had no reason to presage any better things 
from his successor, James II.; who, in 1686, consti- 
tuted a president and council, for the absolute, though 
temporary, government of New England. The presi- 
dentship was given to Mr. Dudley; but he, as a native 
of Massachusetts, was, by no means, inclined to be so 
strict and tyrannical as the king had intended; and it 
was found necessary to put the office into the more 
ready and vigorous hands of Sir Edmund Andros, 
who had been the governor of New York. Imme- 
diately after his arrival, he proceeded to break the 
seal, and to dissolve the government of Rhode Island: 
treated Connecticut in the same manner; annexed 
both to Massachusetts; and called together a grand 
legislative council, of persons selected by the crown, 
throughout the united colonies. The acts of this 
body w^ere so oppressive, or so offensive, at any rate, 
that the colonists saw fit to depute Mr. Mather, an 
eminent politician and divine, to lay their grievances 
before the king. Mr. Mather was graciously received; 
but James was not to be turned from a project he had 
conceived, of consolidating all the colonies, as far as 
the Delaware, in order to resist the encroachments 
of the French; and, instead of restoring the provinces 
of New England, each to its own separate govern- 
ment, he annexed to the union, already formed, the 
two additional colonies of New York and New Jersey. 



70 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. HI. 

The people of New England continued an ostensible 
obedience to the grand council; but they secretly 
cursed all its proceedings, both good and bad; and 
only awaited some convenient occasion, to show their 
real feelings, in an open manner. A vague report, 
concerning the proceedings of the Prince of Orange, 
w^as sufficient to set the materials of rebellion on fire. 
The people of Boston rose, without any apparent 
concert, on the 18th of April, 1689; seized and im- 
prisoned the governor; restored the old order of 
things ; and were, shortly after, relieved from all fears 
about the consequences of their precipitancy, by hav- 
ing to celebrate the coronation of William and Mary. 
The other colonies of New England did not fail to 
follow the good example of Massachusetts. 

New York, in the mean while, was, also, under- 
going its revolutions. In July, 1673, when England 
and Holland were, once more, at war, it was taken, 
without opposition, by a small Dutch squadron, under 
Binkies and Evertzen; was restored by the treaty of 
Westminster, in the following year; and, along with 
New Jersey, was, soon after, put under the govern- 
ment of Sir Edmund Andros. The claim to a part 
of Connecticut was renewed; but met vi^ith such reso- 
lute opposition, that Sir Edmund was obliged to rehn- 
quisli it. He dissatisfied his own people, too, by 
continuing the taxes imposed by the Dutch, and by 



CHAP. III. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 77 

imposing some new duties, on the sole authority of 
the proprietor. He was accused to the king; and 
acquitted. The collector was next seized, and sent 
to England; but was never prosecuted. And it was 
not till 1683, when the revenue laws were about to 
expire, that the complaints of the colonists, and the 
doubts of many in the mother country, as to the 
duke^s legislative powers, induced him to appoint a 
new governor, with instruptions to summon an as- 
sembly. 

In 1674, William Penn obtained an assignment 
of Lord Berkeley's interest in the Jerseys; and, in 
1676, he released East Jersey to Carteret. About 
1680, after settling a controversy with the Duke of 
York, he, with eleven others, obtained a transfer of 
Carteret's part; and immediately conveyed one half 
of their interest to the Earl of Perth, and others. 
Continual efforts were made, in the mean time, for 
re-annexing the Jerseys to New York. Carteret 
estabhshed a port of entry at Amboy. Andros seized 
and condemned the vessels which traded there. New 
York then claimed the right of taxing the Jerseys; 
but, when her collector ventured to prosecute a ves- 
sel, judgment was, almost invariably, given against 
him. A quo ivarranto issued against East Jersey: 
the proprietors surrendered their patent: and it was 



78 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. IIL 

not long after, that, as we have seen above, both Jer- 
seys were annexed to New England. 

A Mr. Dongan was tJie governor, who succeeded 
Andros, in 1683. The French had undertaken to 
exclude the people of New York from the fur trade 
in Canada; and, as the Five Nations were then at 
war with the tribes of that country, Dongan sought 
revenge, by obtaining permission to assist them. The 
permission was recalled, in 1686; and, under Andros, 
New York was, shortly after, annexed to New Eng- 
land. James II. had ordered the discontinuance of 
assemblies: the colonists were greatly exasperated at 
the proceeding; and, as soon as they heard of the 
revolution at Boston, they took possession of the fort, 
in King William's name, and drove the heutenant- 
governor out of the country. Captain Jacob Leisler, 
who was the leader of the insurrection, conducted 
afterwards with so little prudence or moderation, that 
the province was divided into two factions, and for a 
long time suffered much inconvenience from their 
mutual animosities. 

In 1681, William Penn obtained a charter for the 
territory of Pennsylvania: in April, 1682, he formed 
a code of laws for his intended colony; in August, he 
obtained from the Duke of York a grant of Newcas- 
tle, with the country southward, to Cape Henlopen,' 
and, in October of the same year, he landed on the 



GHAP. III. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. ^9 

banks of the Delawai^, with two thousand emigrants. 
Philadelphia was immediately founded; and, within 
twelve months, nearly one hundred houses demonstrat- 
ed the rapidity of its growth. The proprietor, though 
appointed 'captain-general' of his territory;, and in- 
vested with power to raise, equip, and lead his forceSj 
whenever it should be necessary, did not come to 
the country as a conqueror;* and, instead of exaspe- 
rating the natives, by forcing them to quit their lands, 
conciliated their good will, by paying them a satisfac- 
tory equivalent. He experienced considerable diffi- 
culty, however, in settling a dispute with Lord Bahi- 
more, about the boundaries of his grant; and, after 
some fruitless altercation, the question was submitted 
to the committee of plantations; who decided, that the 
peninsula formed by the Bays of Chesapeake and 
Delaware should be equally divided between the two 
claimants, by a meridional line, drawn from the for- 
tieth degree of north latitude to Cape Henlopen. 
Penn's code of laws was founded on the enlightened 
principle, that liberty, without obedience, is confu- 
'sion; and obedience, without hberty, is slavery:' but 
its complicated provisions were much better in theory 
than in practice; and, after many unsuccessful at- 
tempts to make it fit the circumstances of the colony, 
it was finally abandoned for a more simple form of 
government. Pennsylvania was dilatory in acknow- 

* See Note (G). 



80 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. Ill, 

lodging the Prince of Orange. The government was 
administered in the name of James, for some time after 
his abdication; and, when, at last, the proprietor was 
obliged to recognise Wilham and Mary, he did not 
lack address to make satisfactory apologies for his 
delay. 

Nor did Massachusetts derive so much benefit from 
the revolution as she had, at first, anticipated. In 
June, 1689, the assembly met at Boston; and, until 
orders were received from England, the council were 
requested to administer the government according to 
the original charter. The king sent for Sir Admond 
Andros, and the other prisoners: the general court 
deputed two assistants, Mr. Cooke and Mr. Oakes, to 
aid the other agents in procuring a confirmation of 
their beloved charter: but a new one was issued, in 
1691; and the colony found, with no little dissatisfac- 
tion, that, in future, the king was to appoint their 
governor, deputy-governor, and secretary; and that the 
governor was to have the calling, adjoiu'nment, proro- 
gation, and dissolution of the assembly, — as well as the 
sole appointment of all military, and, with the council, 
of all judicial, officers. By another provision, Ply- 
mouth and Nova Scotia were annexed to Massachu- 
setts; while, contrary to the wishes of both parties, 
New Hampshire was left to a separate government. 
In May, 1692, Sir William Phipps, the first governor. 



CHAP. III. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. Bl 

arrived with the new charter; which, after all, was, in 
the following June, joyfully accepted by the general 
assembly. 

New York was reduced to its former allegiance, 
in March, 1691. The conduct and character of Leis- 
ler had determined some of the most respectable men 
in the colony to settle at Albany; where a convention 
of the people resolved to retain the fort and country 
for the king and queen. Liesler sent against it a small 
force, under his worthy lieutenant, one Jacob Mel- 
bourne; who, though, on his Qrst attack, he found the 
garrison impregnable to his sermons against James 
and popery, was enabled to subdue them on the se- 
cond, by the co-operation of the Indians. Their 
property was confiscated; and Leisler's authority re- 
established. But both himself and his authority were 
short-lived. He had the folly to resist the new go- 
vernor. Colonel Flenry Slaughter; who soon obtained 
possession of the fort, and ordered Leisler and Mel- 
bourne to be executed for high treason. Nor was it 
with internal enemies alone that New York had, at this 
time, to contend. In 1688, Louis XIV. despatched 
some ships of war, under one Caffiniere, in order to 
assist Count Frontignac, general of the land forces, 
in a project for the conquest of that province. Count 
Frontignac was indefatigable in his efforts to gain over 
the Five Nations; who had made two attacks upon 

I, 



82 THE UNITED STATES CHAF. IIL 

Montreal, and murdered a great number of inhabitants- 
He held a great council with them at Onondaga; and^ 
as they seemed to be somewhat inclined to peace, he 
resolved to give their favourable disposition no time 
for change, and, at the same time, to inspirit his own 
drooping countrymen, by finding them immediate 
employment against the English colonies. On the 
19th of January, a party of about two hundred French, 
and some Cahnuaga Indians, set out, in the deep snow, 
for Schenectady: they arrived on the 8th of Februaiy, 
eleven o'clock at night, and the first intimation the 
inhabitants had of their design, was conveyed in the 
noise of their own bursting doors. The village was 
burnt: sixty persons were butchered; twenty-seven 
suffered the worse fate of captivity; and the rest made 
their way naked through the snow to Albany, A 
party of young men, and some Mohawk Indians, 
set out from the latter place; pursued the enemy: 
and killed and captured twenty-five. In the spring 
and summer of 1680, New Hampshire and Maine 
were subject to similar inroads. Massachusetts fitted 
out seven small vessels, with about eight hundred 
men; who, under Sir William Phipps, had the poor 
revenge of taking Fort Royal, and returned on the 
30th of May, with hardly plunder enough to pay the 
expense of equipment. About the same time. Count 
Frontignac made an attack upon Salmon Falls and 



CHAP. IIT. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 83 

Fort Casco; where he killed and captured about one 
hundred and eighty persons. 

New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts now 
resolved to join in an united attack upon the common 
enemy. The troops of the former set out, by land, 
for Montreal. Those of the latter, consisting of about 
two thousand, set sail from Nantucket, on the 9th of 
August, in a fleet of forty vessels, some of which car- 
ried forty-four guns. The land forces did not receive 
the aid they expected from the Five Nations: their 
provisions fell short; and they were obliged to return. 
The naval expedition did not reach (Quebec till Octo- 
ber: the energy of Sir William Phipps was by no means 
calculated to counterbalance the inclemency of the 
season; and, after holding several councils of war, and 
parading about the place for two or three days, it was 
deemed most expedient to return; and the fleet arrived 
safely at Boston, on the LSth of November. The 
colony being unable to pay off" the troops, they threat- 
ened to mutiny; and, as a last resource, the general 
court issued bills of credit, and, at the same time, im- 
posed a tax, payable in those bills, at five per cent, 
above par. The paper, for a time, was worth only 
fourteen shillings in the pound: but it rose above par, 
when the tax was about to be collected. 

The Indians now renewed their hostihties. Sir 
William Phipps went to England for aid; but re- 



84 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. Ill, 

turned, without effecting his purpose. A fort was 
built at Pamaquid. Iberville and Villebone appeared 
before it with two ships of war, and some French and 
Indians; but, to the no small dissatisfaction of the 
latter, the liteness of the season, and the want of a 
pilot, necessitated them to return. In the summer of 
1693, King William at length despatched two thou- 
sand one hundred sailors, and two thousand four 
hundred soldiers, for the reduction of Q,uebec; but 
they were first to capture Martinique; and, before they 
reached Boston, a contagious fever had carried off 
more than half of their numbers. The rest were inca- 
pable of service; and the expedition was abandoned. 
In 1696, the conquests which Massachusetts had made 
in the French territory, refused their obedience: Pa- 
maquid was taken by Iberville; and New Hampshire 
was obliged to secure herself from attack, by putting 
a body of five hundred men under the command of 
Colonel Church. But Iberville retired; and, though 
Church made, in turn, a successful inroad upon the 
French territory, nothing of consequence took place 
on either side. In the course of the same year, a plan 
was matured at the court of Versailles, for laying waste 
all the English possessions in America; and it is said, 
that the plan would probably have succeeded, had not 
the forces, appropriated for the purpose, been employ- 
ed in other service, till the season of operation was past. 



CHAP. Ill- BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. bo 

The peace of Riswick put an end to hostilities 
between the French and Enghsh on both sides of the 
Atlantic. All the New England colonies had suffered 
severely from the Indians during the war. New York 
was protected by the Five Nations: and yet, so little 
did the English ministry know of the respective situa- 
tions of the colonies, or so partial w ere they to that of 
the Duke of York, that they formed a design, in 1695, 
of unitins; the forces of all the others for the defence 
of this. Massachusetts was to furnish three hundred 
and fifty men; Rhode Island, forty-eight; Connecticut, 
one hundred and twenty; New York, two hundred: 
Pennsylvania, eighty; Maryland, one hundred and 
sixty; Virginia, two hundred and fifty; in all, eleven 
hundred and ninety-eight. But the plan was never 
carried into execution. Such of the colonies as were 
attacked themselves, could not spare troops to defend 
others; and those that were still at peace, could not 
tell how long they should be. As Virginia was pecu- 
liarly peaceful, she furnishes little matter for the pen 
of the historian. The college of William and Mary 
obtained a charter, in 1692; had a liberal endowment, 
soon after; and was established at Williamsburg, in 
1693. In 1698, the state-house at Jamestown was 
consumed by fire; and, in the following year, the seat 
of government was removed to Wilhamsburg. 

By the treaty of Riswick, there was to be a recipro- 



86 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. HI. 

cal surrender of all conquests made during the war. 
But no specific arrangement was entered into, for as- 
certaining the respective boundaries of the English and 
French possessions in America. The subject furnish- 
ed ample room for controversy; and, when news was 
brought, that hostilities had been re-connnenced in 
Europe, it found the colonies in a fit disposition to wel- 
come the event. They mutually flew to arms; and, as 
New York had secured herself from danger, by assist- 
ing to conclude a treaty of neutrality, between the 
Five Nations and the governor of Canada, New Eng- 
land was obliged to endure the whole brunt of the 
war. Propositions were, indeed, made for a general 
neutrality; but Dudley, the governor of Massachusetts 
and New Hampshire, was in hopes of subduing Nova 
Scotia, and, perhaps, Canada; and, in the spring of 
1707, he applied to Connecticut and Rhode Island to 
assist his own colonies in raising, for the purpose, a 
body of one thousand men. The former declined to 
contribute her quota: the troops were raised by the other 
three; and, on the 13th of May, the expedition set sail 
from Nantasket, in twenty-three transports, under the 
convoy of the Deptford man of war, and the Province 
galley. It arrived at Port Royal in a few days; but, as 
Colonel Mai'ch, though a brave man, was unfit to head 
so difficult an enterprise, little was done beyond the 
burning of some houses, and the killing of a few cattle. 



CHAP. in. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 87 

The officers were jealous of each other: all were mis- 
taken as to the state of the fort; and it was soon con- 
cluded to re-embark the troops. They were led back 
again by the vicegerents of the governor; but, after 
spending ten days in fruitless parade about the fort, 
they again re-embarked and came home. 

The colonies were resolved not to give up the en- 
terprise so. In the fall of 1708, Massachusetts plied 
the queen with an address; which, with the assistance 
of the colony's friends in England, at length obtained 
from the ministry a promise of five regiments of regu- 
lar troops. These, with twelve hundred men, raised 
in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, were to sail from 
Boston and proceed to Quebec; while a second divi- 
sion of fifteen hundred men, from the colonies south 
of Rhode Island, were to march against Montreal, by 
the route of Lake Champlain. Pennsylvania did not 
raise her quota of troops; and those furnished by the 
other colonies did not penetrate beyond Wood Creek. 
The Boston troops waited for the English army from 
the ;20th of May to the 11th of October, 1709; when 
the news, that it had been ordered to Portugal, obliged 
the provinces to abandon the undertaking. But their 
patience was not yet exhausted. Another application 
was made to the queen; and, in July, 1710, Colonel 
Nicholson, who commanded the troops destined for 
Montreal, the year before, came over with five frigates 



88 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. Hi. 

and a bomb-ketch, for the purpose of attacking Port 
Royal. He was joined by three regiments of New- 
England troops; sailed from Boston, the 18th of Sep- 
tember; and, on the 24th, was before Port Royal; 
which surrendered, on the 5th of October; and, being 
called Annapolis, in honour of the queen, was put 
under the government of Samuel Yech, a Nova Scotian 
trader. Nicholson returned to England; and, pleading 
the success of his first expedition, obtained from the 
new ministry an army of seven regiments, who had 
grovvn veteran under the Duke of Marlborough. The 
colonies, too, made every exertion to bear the ex- 
penses and burthens of the expedition. Troops were 
soon raised: Massachusetts issued forty thousand 
pounds in bills of credit: provisions were impressed: 
and, on the 30th of July, 1711, the whole armament 
left Boston harbour for Q,uebec. On the 23d of Au- 
gust, the wreck of ten transports on Egg Island, in the 
St. Lawrence, determined the squadron to put about 
A debate was held at Spanish River, in Cape Breton, 
upon the expediency of annoying the French at Pla- 
centia; but the whole expedition sailed for England, 
w^ithout annoying them there, or any where else. 
The frontiers of the colonies were again left exposed 
to depredation; nor was it till 1713, that the cession 
of Nova Scotia to England prevented the French 
from instigating the Indians to hostility. 



CHAP. III. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 89 

While these things were taking place in the north, 
Carohna was alternately engaged in disputes with its 
proprietors, and in quarrels with its neighbours. A 
rumour of the war against France and Spain, in 1702^ 
induced Governor Moore to anticipate the event, by 
proposing an immediate attack upon St. Augustine. 
In vain did the more temperate incur the epithet 
of traitor, by protesting against the measure. There 
were six thousand white inhabitants of the colony: 
two thousand pounds were voted tQ defray all ex- 
penses; and, in September, of the same year, Mr. 
Moore sailed, with a part of six hundred militia and 
six hundred Indians; while Colonel Daniel set out by 
land with the remainder. The Spaniards, apprised 
of the undertaking, had stored the castle with four 
months' provisions; and, when their invaders arrived, 
they found it impossible to dislodge the garrison, with- 
out battering artillery. While Colonel Daniel was 
gone to Jamaica to procure it, the appearance of two 
small Spanish vessels at the mouth of the harbour so 
terrified the governor, that he abandoned his own 
ships, and fled precipitately to Carolina. Daniel 
escaped the enemy with great difficulty: and the only 
result of the enterprise was a debt of six thousand 
pounds; which the colony was obliged to discharge by 
bills of credit, redeemable in three years, out of a duty 
on liquors, skins, and furs. But the ignominy of this 

M 



00 THE UNITED STATES GHAP. III. 

expedition, was shortly after wiped off^ by a success- 
ful war against the Appalachian Indians; who, after 
witnessing the conflagration of all their towns between 
the Altamaha and the Savannah, were fain to solicit 
peace, and to acknowledge the British government. 
Peace with external enemies was soon followed by a 
revival of the old dispute with the proprietors. They 
added new fuel to the controversy, by attempting to 
establish the episcopal church; and the flame, at 
length, mounted so high, that, had not another foreign 
war witlidrawn the attention of the colony, they must 
have shortly fallen under a writ of quo warranto, 

Spain, through the governor of Havanna, de- 
spatched M. Le Feboure, captain of a French fri- 
gate, with four other armed vessels, and eight hun- 
dred men, to make a practical assertion of her right, 
by first discovery, to all North America. The news 
was no sooner brought lo Charleston, than the appear- 
ance of the squadron was announced by signals from 
Sullivan's Fort. But the enemy consumed one day 
in sounding South Bar; and Sir Nathaniel Johnson, 
who had succeeded Mr. Moore, and who had well 
employed the military skill he acquired in Europe, in 
erecting works of defence about the harbour, made 
good use of the twenty-four hmirs, in calling out the 
militia, and procuring the aid of the Indians. The 
enemy landed three times: three times they were sue- 



CHAP. III. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 91 

cessfully repulsed; and they weighed anchor for Ha- 
vanna, under new impressions of the strength of 
CaroHna. The invasion cost the colony about eight 
thousand pounds: no tax had ever yet been imposed 
on lands or persons; and a continuance of the duty 
on liquors, skins, and furs, was pledged to redeem an 
additional amount of bills of credit. Commodities 
immediately rose in price; and the paper currency 
soon fell thirty-three and a third per cent, below par. 
In 1707, the death of the palatine. Lord Granville, 
a bigoted churchman, gave place to Lord Cravan, a 
more liberal and tolerant member of the same sect. 
In 1712, the neighbouring Indians formed a secret 
plan for the extermination of the North Carolinians, 
They fell suddenly upon the inhabitants; and, in the 
single settlement of Roanoke, one hundred and se- 
venty-seven persons fell victims to their cruelty. 
Some fugitives carried the intelligence to Charleston. 
The assembly voted four thousand pounds, to raise 
troops for their defence; and a Colonel Barnwell was 
soon detached, with six hundred militia and about 
three hundred and sixty friendly Indians. In the first 
engagement, three hundred of the enemy fell, and 
one hundred were captured. The rest took shelter 
in a wooden breast-work at Tuscarora; but were so 
vigorously pressed, that they soon sued for peace; 
quitted the country; and, joining with the Iroquois., 



9^ THE UNITED STATES CHAP. Ilf. 

formed what has since been called the Six, instead of 
the Five, Nations. The addition made by this war 
to the debt of the colony, induced the assembly to 
institute a bank; and to issue notes for forty thousand 
pounds; which should be lent on interest, and made 
a legal tender. In the first year, the exchange rose 
to one hundred and eighty; in the second, to two 
hundred, per cent. And, what was an additional 
vexation to the colonists, Q,ueen Anne made a despe- 
rate attempt to settle, by proclamation, the nominal 
value of their foreign coin. 

About the year 1702, a contagious fever was 
brought from the West Indies into several of the 
North American sea-ports. It raged violently in 
New York, and was mortal in almost every instance. 
To increase the calamities of the colony, it was, in 
the same year, put under the government of the 
needy and profligate Lord Cornbury; who joined the 
Anti-Leislerian party, because it was the strongest; 
flattered the assembly in a set speech; got them to 
raise fifteen hundred pounds, for erecting batteries at 
the Narrows; and appropriated the money to his own 
use. A quarrel ensued between himself and the 
legislature. But he continued to charge enormous 
fees, and to demand and misapply money, — till, in 
1706, the united complaints of New York and Jersey 
induced the queen to recall him. One good conse- 



CHAP. III. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 93 

quence attended his administration. The assembly 
passed a resohition, ' that the imposing and levying 
' ol' any monies upon her majesty's subjects of this 
'colony, under any pretence or colour whatsoever, 
'without their consent in general assembly, is agriev- 
' ance, and a violation of the people^s property.^ As 
early as 1692, it is worthy of observation, that Mas- 
sachusetts published a still stronger assertion of the 
same principle. 'No aid, tax, tallage, assessment, 
' custom, loan, benevolence, or imposition whatsover, 
(says the act; and the words remind us of Mctgna 
Cliarta) 'shall be laid, assessed, imposed, or levied 
'on any of their majesties' subjects, or their estates, 
' on any pretence whatsoever, but by the act and con- 
' sent of the governor, council, and representatives of 
'the people, assembled in general court.' 

New York had entered with much zeal into the 
project of conquering Canada; which we have before 
mentioned as having failed, for the want of the pro- 
mised support from England. To defray the ex- 
penses of the army, under Colonel Nicholson, New 
York voted twenty thousand pounds, in bills of credit: 
New Jersey added three thousand pounds; and Con- 
necticut, eight thousand more. After the enterprise 
had failed. Colonel Schuyler, a gentleman of great 
influence in New York, undertook a voyage to Eng- 
land, at his own expense, in order to enlist the minis- 



94 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. III. 

try once more in the cause. The presence of five 
Indian Sachems, who sailed with him, added consi- 
derably to the weight of his negotiation; and he has 
the merit of having been a chief promoter of the ex- 
pedition, which was so successful against Port Royal, 
in 1710. When Massachusetts undertook that, which 
terminated so differently, against Q,upbec, in 1712, 
New York issued ten thousand pounds in bills of 
credit, and incurred debts to still greater an amount, 
in order to co-operate with Connecticut and New 
Jersey, in putting Mr. Nicholson at the head of four 
thousand men, for a corresponding attack upon Mon- 
treal. But some of the ships, which had been sent 
to co-operate in the plan, were wrecked in the St. 
Lawrence; and the return of the fleet having left the 
French governor at liberty to direct his whole force 
against the army. Colonel Nicholson was apprehen- 
sive of discomfiture, and commenced a retreat. 

Here concludes the history, down to this period, of 
every important event in the colonies, if we except the 
order of Queen Anne, issued in 1712, to discontinue 
the presents, with which the inhabitants had been 
accustomed to conciliate their governors; and the ad- 
justment of boundaries between Rhode Island and 
Connecticut, and between Connecticut and Massa- 
chusetts. The two latter agreed, that the towns, which 
they had respectively settled, should still remain under 



GHAP. III. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 95 

their former jurisdiction; and that, if either party 
should be found to have encroached on the territory 
of the other, the loss should be made good by an equal 
grant of lands, in some other place. Massachusetts 
had to give Connecticut one hundred and seven thou- 
sand seven hundred and ninety-three acres; which 
were sold by the latter, chiefly for the support of 

Yale College. 

As early as 1655, New Haven made an ap- 
propriation of three hundred, and Milford of one 
hundred pounds, for the support of a grammar- 
school and college. The former, soon after, added a 
donation of lands; and, in 1659, the legislature voted 
forty pounds annually, and one hundred pounds for 
the purchase of books. In 1660, a donation was 
received from Governor Hopkins. The general court 
agreed to establish both institutions at New Haven; 
and the project had just begun to show its fruits, 
when the troubles of the colony so impoverished their 
resources, that they could not pay for instructors, 
^lien the New England colonies formed the union 
in 1665, the grammar-school was revived; and the 
funds, which had been raised for both institutions, 
being appropriated exclusively to this, it has been 
enabled to continue in existence to the present time. 

In 1698, the clergy began again to talk upon the 
subject of a college: in the following year, ten of their 
number were chosen to found, erect, and govern one: 



96 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. III. 

and, in 1700, they met at Branford, each bringing 
three or four large books, and laying them upon the 
table, with ' I give these books for the founding of a 
' college in this colony/ As it was doubtful whether 
they conkl hold property, it was agreed to petition for 
a charter. To promote the design, Mr. Fitch, of 
Norwich, gave six hundred acres of land, and ' all 
* the glass and nails which should be necessary to 
*buikl a college-house and hall' The charter was 
granted in Octot)er, 1701; and, on the 11th of No- 
vember, the trustees held a meeting; chose a rector; 
passed some rules, for the government of the institu- 
tion; and concluded to fix it at Saybrook. The first 
commencement was lield at that place on the 13th of 
September, 1 702. The college was originally designed 
for the education of ministers: the charter provided, 
that the trustees should be none but clergymen; and, 
of the forty-six graduates, between 1 102 and 1713, 
thirty-four became ministers. 

The growth of the school, though slow, at length 
rendered it inconvenient to accommodate all the stu- 
dents at Saybrook; and both they and their parents 
were dissatisfied to see a part transferred to Milford. 
The evil grew worse every day; and, as the trustees 
did not seem inclined to apply the proper remedy, by 
removing the institution to a more adequate place, the 
several towns of the colony undejtook to Ibrce the 



to^HAP. in. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 97 

measure, by subscribing different sums for its esta- 
blishment in different situations. Seven hundred 
pounds sterHng were subscribed to fix it at New 
Haven; five hundred for its continuance at Saybrook; 
and less sums for its removal to other places. Still 
there was nmch difference of opinion among the 
trustees; nor was it till October, 1716, that they 
agreed to establish the college at New Haven. In 
1714, Governor Yale had made it a present of forty 
volumes; and, in 1716, he added three hundred more. 
Two years afterwards, he gave the trustees goods to 
the value of two hundred pounds sterling, prime cost; 
and a similar donation of one hundred pounds, in 
1721, induced them to call the institution after his 
name.* In 1717, the number of students was thirty- 
one. A century after, it had increased nearly ten- 
fold. 

^ See Note (H). 



N 



98 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. IV, 



CHAPTER ly. 

Paper-Money in Massachusetts — Quarrel between the Gover- 
nor and Representatives — Inroads of the Indians — Depu- 
tation to the French — Peace — Alterations in the Charter — 
Renewal of the Dispute between the Executive and Legis- 
lature — Mr. Burnet's Instructions for a Fixed Salary — 
Adjournment of the Court — Mr. Burnet's Death — Mr. 
Belcher renews the Discussion — Association for issuing 
more Bills of Credit — Mr. Shirley — Adjustment of the 
Dispute between New York and New Jersey concerning 
Boundaries — Controversy between New York and Canada 
— Prosperity of the Northern Colonies — The Parson's Cavise 
in Virginia — Proceedings in Carolina — Settleinent of Ya- 
massee Territory — Paper-Money — Disposition of the Pro- 
prietors — Disputes between the Governor and the Assembly 
— Dissolution of the Charter and Division of the Province 
— Settlement of Georgia — Mr. Oglethorpe — Quarrel with 
the Spaniards — Ineffectual Attack upon St. Augustme — 
Abortive attempt upon Georgia. 

The rise in exchange, produced by imprudent is- 
sues of paper-money in Massachusetts, was idly attri- 
buted to a decay in trade; and the colony was almost 
unanimously of opinion, that trade could only be re- 
vived, by an additional quantity of bank notes. A few 
saw the real evil, and were for calling in the bills, that 
were already abroad; but it was determined by the 
great majority, that, either by a private, or a public 
bank, the province should be supplied with more 



CHAP. IV. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 99 

money, or rather, willi more paper. The general court 
at length resolved to place bills for fifty thousand 
pounds in the hands of trustees; who were to lend 
them at five per cent, interest, with a stipulation, that 
one-fifth of the principal should be repayed annually. 
Still, trade would not improve. Mr. Shute, who had 
just succeeded Mr. Dudley, attributed the fact to a 
scarcity of money; and recommended, that some effec- 
tual measures should be taken to make it more abun- 
dant. The specific was therefore doubled. But an 
additional emission of one hundred thousand pounds 
so greatly depreciated the value of the currency, that 
the general court were, at last, enabled to see the true 
cause of the difficulty: and the governor, too, when 
his salary came to be voted in the depreciated money, 
according to its nominal amount, began to be some- 
what sceptical of his policy. 

This was the small beginning of a long and rancor- 
ous quarrel between the governor and the general 
court. In 1719, (it was now 1720,) the former had 
incurred the censure of the ministry, by assenting to 
a bill for the imposition of duties upon English ton- 
nage, and upon English manufactures: when a similar 
bill was sent up, this year, it was negatived in the 
council: a warm altercation ensued; and it was not 
till the next session, that the act passed without the 
offensive clauses. In the same session, the governor 



100 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. IV. 

claimed the right of negativing a choice, which the 
house had made, of a speaker; aj)d, when they refused 
to recognize the claim, he dissolved the court, and 
issued new writs of election. Nearly the same per- 
sons were re-elected; and the only effect of the mea- 
sure, was, to make them still less disposed to accom- 
modate Mr. Shute. They opposed him in every thing, 
whether it was right or wrong, insignificant or import- 
ant. They neglected to vote him his salary, as was 
usual, at the beginning of the session; and not only 
postponed the business till the day of adjournment, 
but reduced the amount from six to five hundred 
pounds. The depredations of some eastern Indians 
made it necessary to call the representatives together 
again, before the stated time. They immediately passed 
an act, which amounted to a declaration of war; and, 
when the governor accused them of usurping his 
prr ogative, they docked off another hundred pounds 
from his salary. He laid before them instructions from 
the crown, to give him a fixed and adequate sum: they 
'desired the court might rise;' and it rose accordingly. 
The governor opened the next assembly with 
recommending many wise measures; which were to- 
tally neglected by the court; and little else, indeed, 
was done, during the session, but to continue the 
emission of bank bills, and to drive the gold and silver 
from the country, by ordering, that it should be passed 



CHAP. IVc BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. iOl 

at a higher rate, than that which had been established 
by an act of parhament. The next general court 
very early appointed a committee to vindicate their 
predecessors from the aspersions of the governor. 
The committee justified the house; and their report 
was ordered to be printed. The court postponed the 
vote for the governor's salary: he laid by their list of 
appointments: they deputed a committee to enquire 
into the matter: he told them, he should take his own 
time for it: the house resolved, to make no grants or 
allowances: the governor made an angry speech; and 
the court was dissolved. A new legislature soon 
manifested the same temper with the old. In spite 
of the governor's protest, that the charter had placed 
the militia solely at his own disposal, they proceeded to 
make regulations for carrying on the Indian war; 
leaving his excellency no other power, than that of 
approving the measures, which might be adopted by a 
committee of their appointment. He embarked sud- 
denly for England; and the representatives and council, 
though generally opposed on all other questions, were 
united in resolving to send after him instructions to 
their agent, to take the best measures for defending 
the interest of the colony against his representations. 
These internal dissensions gave the Indians a good 
opportmiity to make their inroads upon the frontiers. 
They were set on by the French in Canada; particu- 



102 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. I?. 

larly by one father Ralle, a Jesuit missionary. Some 
troops were sent to capture this holy personage; but he 
received the intelhgence in time to escape; and the par- 
ty could only get possession of his papers; among which 
were letters of authorization from M. Vaudreuil, the 
governor of Canada. War was now formally declared 
against the Indians; and, as it was abundantly evident, 
that they were instigated by the French, a deputation 
was sent to M. Vaudreuil, in 1726, in order to remon- 
strate against a conduct so incompatible with the peace, 
which then subsisted between France and England. 
He first disclaimed all interference; but, when his let- 
ters to Ralle were produced, he could deny it no 
longer. He assured the deputation, that he would 
thenceforth exert himself to effectuate a peace; and a 
peace was accordingly soon after concluded at Boston. 
Farhament, in the mean time, was condemning, 
question after question, the whole proceedings of the 
general court in the case of Mr. Shute. It was thought 
expedient to issue a new charter for ' explaining' the 
old one, in the two points, which respected the powers 
of choosing a speaker, and of adjourning the court. 
The last was entirely 'explained' away from the house; 
and the former was so modified, as to leave the gover- 
nor his negative. Rather than have the whole subject 
again brought before parliament, which was the pe- 
nalty of refusal, the general court concluded it was 



CHAP. IV. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 103 

most adviseable to adopt both of these alterations. Its 
attention was next turned to the loud complaints about 
the decay of trade and the scarcity of money. A bill 
passed both houses for issuing more notes; and, 
when it was negatived by the lieutenant-governor, 
they agreed to postpone the consideration of salaries. 
The lieutenant had said, that his instructions would 
not let him assent to such bills, except they were for 
the charges of government: a bill for issuing sixty 
thousand pounds was, therefore, headed, ^An act for 
' defraying the necessary charges of government;' and 
the influence of an uncertain salary necessitated his 
excellency to give his assent. 

Mr. William Burnet, the new governor of Massa- 
chusetts and New Hampshire, had received express 
instructions from the king, to see that the general court 
settled upon him a fixed and certain salary. Soon 
after his arrival, the assembly voted seventeen hundred 
pounds for defraying the expenses of his voyage, and 
for supporting him in the discharge of his office. He 
said, he could not assent to such a vote. They then 
voted for the first purpose, three hundred pounds; 
which were accepted; and, for the last, fourteen hun- 
dred pounds; which were refused. The legislature 
asserted, that it was their privilege, as Englishmen, to 
raise and apply their own money; and, when the go- 
vernor answered, that he would never accept such a 



104 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. IV. 

grant as had been made, the council were for esta- 
blishing a fixed salary, — but the representatives re- 
quested, that the court might rise. Mr. Burnet would 
not grant the request. It was again made; and again 
refused. The house then sent up a long message; in 
which they detailed their reasons for refusing to esta- 
bhsh a fixed salary; and once more reiterated their 
wishes, that they 'might not be kept sitting there,' to 
the manifest prejudice of their constituents. The 
governor answ^ered them promptly enough; but not at 
all to their satisfaction; and, after resolving to adhere 
to their old method of appropriating monies, they drew 
up a statement of the controversy, and transmitted it 
to the several towns. Many spirited messages were 
exchanged in quick succession between his excellency 
and the house. The latter again repeated a request, 
that the court might rise: he told them, they could not 
expect to have their own wishes gratified, when they 
paid so little attention to those of his majesty; and the 
altercation was waxing so high, that the council 
thought it best to interfere, — and to propose, that 
some certain sum should be fixed upon, as a salary for 
the governor. The representatives voted three thou- 
sand pounds in their own money, — equal to about one 
thousand pounds sterling: but, as the act contained no 
provision for the continuance of the same sum, Mr. 
Burnet refused his assent; and, apprehending, that 



CHAP. IV. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 103 

the house was somewhat influenced by the people of 
Boston, who had unanimously voted against a fixed 
salary, he adjourned the Court to the town of Salem. 
At Salem it met, on the 30th of October, 1728. The. 
battle of messages re-commenced as briskly as ever. 
The representatives appointed agents to plead their 
cause in England: the council would not concur in the 
act, because they had not been consulted; and the 
project must have failed for want of money, had not 
the people of Boston subscribed for the necessary 
sums. The agents soon transmitted a report of the 
board of trade; in which the conduct of the house was 
entirely disapproved. They were told, also, that, un- 
less they fixed a salary, the parliament would: — 'It is 
' better (they answered) that the liberties of the people 
'should be taken from them, than given up by them- 
' selves.' Both parts of the administration went all 
this time without pay; for, as the representatives would 
vote no salaries, the governor would assent to no drafts 
upon the treasury. At length there was a recess be- 
tween the 20th of December, 1 728, and the 2d of 
April, 1729; when the court assembled at Salem; and, 
after several fruitless meetings, were adjourned to 
Cambridge. They met there, on the 21st of August; 
and, a few days after, Mr. Burnet died of a fever at 
Boston. 

Mr. Belcher, his successor, came over, in the 
o 



106 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. I\^; 

beginning of August, 1730, with a fresh packet of 
instructions to insist upon a fixed salary. The king 
said it was the ' last signification of the royal pleasure 
'on this subject;' and he threatened to bring the 
whole history of the province before parliament, if it 
were not immediately complied with. The house 
voted one thousand pounds currency, to defray the 
charges of his excellency's voyage, and a sum equal 
to one thousand pounds sterling, to aid him in ma- 
naging public affairs. The council added an amend- 
ment, to make the appropriation annual. The amend- 
ment was rejected. The council modified it, by 
confining the yearly allowance to the duration of Mr. 
Belcher's government. The representatives again 
refused their assent; and the resolution was dropped. 
The controversy continued for some time longer; but 
the governor was at length wearied out; and leave 
was, in the end, obtained of the king, to let the legis- 
lature take its own way in the regulation of his salary. 
The termination of this dispute was only the be- 
ginning of another. An unusual scarcity of money 
was complained of, all over New England. The go- 
vernor of Massachusetts and New Hampshire had 
been instructed to suffer the emission of no more 
bills in those colonies. Connecticut was employed 
in agriculture; and did not stand in need of much 
money. But the commerce of Rhode Island de- 



eiiAP. IV. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 107 

manded an abundant circulating medium; and one 
hundred thousand pounds, in bills of credit, were, 
accordingly, loaned to the inhabitants, for twenty 
years. An association of merchants, in Boston, un- 
dertook to prevent the circulation of this money, by 
issuing, themselves, one hundred and ten thousand 
pounds, of the same sort: but the bills of all the New 
England colonies soon became current: silver rose 
from nineteen to twenty-seven shillings the ounce; 
and the notes of the association entirely disappeared. 
Another company of eight hundred persons set on 
foot a plan for issuing one hundred and fifty thousand 
pounds, in bills of credit; which should be lent, on 
good security, at three per cent, interest; the princi- 
pal, as in all these schemes, being redeemable by 
annual instalments of a certain per cent. The au- 
thors of the project began, in season, to secure the 
good opinion of the next general court; and, so suc- 
cessful were they in the business, that the house was 
found to be chiefly composed of subscribers, and was, 
for a long time, distinguished by the name of the 
Land Bank House, Small traders, and small traders 
only, would accept the company's notes; but it conti- 
nued to issue them without end; and the governor 
was finally obliged to petition parliament for an act to 
suppress the institution. Mr. Shirley superseded Mr. 
Belcher, in 1740; and one of the first bills passed 



108 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. IV 

under his administratioiij declared that all contracts 
should be considered as payable in siher, at six shil- 
lings and eight pence the ounce, or its equivalent in 
gold. Notes for so many ounces of silver were also 
issued, and made receivable in payment of debts; the 
debts being augmented as the notes should depre- 
ciate. 

A long peace had enabled New York and New 
Jersey to adjust, in some measure, an unpleasant 
dispute about boundaries. It gave the former an 
opportunity, also, to take advantage of her geographi- 
cal facilities for trading on the northern lakes; and, 
in \122, Mr. Burnet, the governor of that province, 
and of New Jersey, greatly excited the jealousy of 
the French, by building a store-house at Oswego. 
M. Longueil, the governor of Canada, retaliated by 
launching two vessels on Lake Ontario, and sending 
nlaterials to erect a trading-house, and to repair the 
fort, at Niagara. The Seneca Indians were greatly 
incensed at this measure; and Mr. Burnet remon- 
strated against it: but M. Longueil proceeded to com- 
plete his fort; and the former could only get revenge, 
by erecting, at his own expense, a like fort at Oswego. 
M. Bcauharnois, the successor of M. Longueil, sent 
the commander a written summons to evacuate it. 
The summons was disregarded. He warmly remon- 
strated against the proceeding to Mr. Burnet: Mr. 



CHAP. IV. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 109 

Burnet as warmly remonstrated against the proceed- 
ing at Niagara; and here the dispute ended for the 
present. It was not long afterwards, that the French 
acquired the control over Lake Champlain, by seiz- 
ing and fortifying Crown Point. 

During the regency of the Duke d'Orleans, in 
France, and the administration of Sir Robert Wal- 
pole, in England, all the colonies, to Virginia, inclu- 
sive, had little to distract their attention from their 
own private affairs, and could scarcely help becoming 
prosperous. Land was cheap, and subsistence easily 
obtained. Marriages, of course, were early and fre- 
quent; and population soon began to extend itself over 
the vacant parts of the country. Such a process is 
attended with no eclat; and perhaps there is nothing 
to relieve the monotony of a long and felicitous period, 
in the internal economy of the colonies, if we except 
the dispute;, in Virginia, respecting ecclesiastical 
salaries. 

In 1696, when the price of tobacco was sixteen 
shillings and eight pence per hundred, an act of the 
assembly, — which was re-enacted, and assented to by 
tJie king, in 1748, — conferred upon each parish- 
minister an annual stipend of sixteen thousand pounds 
of tobacco. In 1755, the crop was scanty; and the 
legislature, by another act, which was to continue in 
force ten months, and not to wait for the royal assent, 



1 10 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. IV. 

provided, that those, who owed debts in tobacco, 
might either pay them in the specific article, or in 
money, at the rate of sixteen shilhngs and eight pence 
per hundred. Though the price was then from fifty 
to sixty shilhngs, the measure created no disturbance; 
and, three years afterwards, when it was surmised, 
that the crop would again be short, the same expedi- 
ent was resorted to. But the ministers now began t« 
see its operation ; and one of them, in a pamphlet, 
entitled The Twopenny Act, convinced the legisla- 
ture, that he understood precisely, how they were de- 
frauding his order of its just dues. He was attacked 
by two colonels; whom he answ^ered with The Colo- 
nels Dismounted; and the war of pamphlets soon 
grew so hot, that the printers of Virginia were afraid 
to continue it. 

The subject was next taken up by the king in 
council; who declared, that the act of 1758 was a 
mere usurpation, and could have no force. Backed 
by such authority, the ministers brought the question 
before a county court; and, after a formal argument, 
it was decided in their favour. By the laxity of 
practice, the subject was permitted to be once more 
discussed; and, when all supposed, that the first 
Judgment could never be shaken, the unexpected 
eloquence of Mr. Patrick Henry is said to have 
changed the opinion of the court The clergy took 



CHAP, IV. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. Ill 

their revenge in an angry pamphlet; and here the 
controversy seems to have terminated.* 

Carolina, in the mean time, was rapily undergoing 
a revolution of government. In 1715, the colony had 
incurred considerable expenses, in a war with about 
six thousand Yamassee, Creek, and Appalachian 
Indians; who were met at a place called the Salt 
Catchers, by twelve hundred men, and so com- 
pletely routed, that they were obliged to make a new 
settlement in Florida. The proprietors not only 
ordered the reduction of the paper money, which the 
assembly saw fit to issue, on account of this expedi- 
tion; but, when applied to for assistance by the 
agents of the colony, they declared their inability to 
protect it, unless his majesty would interpose. The 
assembly had, also, undertaken to make a barrier 
against the Indians, by offering the Yamassee terri- 
tory to all persons, who would come over and settle 
in it. Five hundred Irishmen accepted the offer, and 
had actually taken up the ground; when the proprie- 
tors ordered the law to be repealed, and the lands to 
be laid out in baronies for themselves. It had been 
the custom to elect all the representatives of the 
colony in the single town of Charleston. The in- 
crease of population now rendered the practice ex- 
tremely inconvenient; and the legislature had enacted, 

* See Note (1). 



112 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. iV 

tliat, for the future, each parish should assemble in its 
own church, and choose its own representatives. The 
})roprietors ordered the act to be repealed; and Go- 
vernor Johnson, son of the former governor of that 
name, had to use all his influence to keep the colo- 
nists from breaking into open rebellion, at this wanton 
and outrageous proceeding. But they were com- 
pelled to bear yet more insults. Some expeditions 
against a band of pirates, who had long infested the 
coast, necessitated the assembly, as they imagined, to 
issue another quantity of paper money; and the go- 
vernor carried an additional bill, for redeeming it, in 
three years, by a tax upon land and negroes. But 
the tax was oppressive to the planters; and they had 
influence enough to obtain another act for the emis- 
sion of more bills. As soon as the proprietors heard 
of these transactions, they sent the governor instruc- 
tions to approve of no legislative measure, until it 
had been laid before them. Another order soon after 
followed, to take off a duty, which the colony had laid, 
of five per cent, on British manufactures: and, as if 
these outrages were not sufficient, they deemed it 
meet to show another instance of their despotism, by 
giving an arrogant and abusive answer to a memorial, 
which the assembly had presented, against their right 
to revoke the laws of the province. 

The rupture between Spain and Great Britain, 



GHAP. IV. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 113 

in 1719, afforded fresh opportunities for the prosecu- 
tion of this dispute. The rumour of an expedition, 
fitting out at Havanna, for the invasion of South Ca- 
rolina, induced Governor Johnson to attempt the 
reparation of the forts in the harbour of Charleston^ 
by the voluntary aid of the inhabitants. A subscrip- 
tion was set on foot; and he placed a liberal sum 
opposite to his own name. The assembly disap- 
proved of the measure; or, rather, asserted, that the 
receipts from the duties would render it unnecessary. 
The governor wanted to know, if the duties had not 
been taken off .^ They told him, they intended to pay 
no attention to the repeals, which they had been 
forced to make. A warm altercation followed; and, 
though nothing decisive took place, the representa- 
tives seem to have formed a determination to rid 
themselves of the proprietary government. Private 
meetings were held, to concert measures of resist- 
ance. The militia unanimously subscribed an instru- 
ment of association; and the people engaged to stand 
by each other, in the assertion of their rights and. 
privileges. At the first meeting of the new assembly, 
all former repeals were repealed: the proprietors 
were declared to have forfeited their rights of govern- 
ment; and the honourable Robert Johnson was de- 
sired to accept the office of governor, in the name of 
the king. A message from himself and the council 

p 



114 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. IV. 

requested a conference with the house: they wuld 
receive no message ' from the governor, in concert 
^with the gentlemen he was pleased to call his coiin- 
'cil/ He sent them an expostulatory speech: — they 
would take notice of no ' paper, sent by the governor, 
'in conjunction with the gentlemen' he called his 
council; and they informed him, in a second address^ 
that they intended to cast off the proprietary govern- 
ment, and to obey him no longer, unless he would 
consent to exercise his office, as vicegerent of the king. 
He proclaimed the dissolution of the assembly; and 
retired into the country. The proclamation was torn 
from the officer's hands: Colonel John Moore was 
elected chief magistrate; and the assembly agreed to 
inaugurate him, on the very day, which Mi". Johnson 
had set apart for a review of the militia. He had the 
review postponed: but, when he came into Charles- 
ton, on the appointed day, he found the militia pa- 
raded in the public square, in order to celebrate the 
proclamation of Mr. Moore. All his efforts to stop 
the proceeding were ineffectual. The assembly pro- 
claimed their own governor; chose their own council; 
.and went deliberately about the transaction of public 
affairs. The province was on their side; and their 
power was soon after corroborated and fixed, by the 
vigorous preparations, which they made to repel a 
contemplated attack from Havanna. Their agent in 



CHAP. IV. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 115 

England obtained a decision in the council, that the 
proprietors had forfeited their charter: a scire facias 
issued against it: the proprietors surrendered their 
interests; and Mr. Francis jSicholson was soon after 
welcomed to the colony, as governor under the king. 
The security, which the province felt in the protec- 
tion of the crown, was greatly increased by a treaty, 
which was soon after concluded with the Cherokee 
Indians. Security made the colonists industrious; 
and industry soon raised them sufficiently above their 
former circumstances, to arrest the depreciation of 
their paper currency; which had fallen about eighty- 
six per cent, below par. Increase of wealth made 
boundaries a matter of importance; and, in 1732, the 
province found it convenient to divide itself into North 
and South Carolina. 

About the same time, the territory of Georgia was 
granted to twenty-one trustees, for the purpose of 
being parcelled out to such of the English poor as 
would consent to be carried over the Atlantic; and, 
early in 1733, Mr. James Oglethorpe, one of the 
trustees, arrived at Charleston with one hundred and 
sixty. He proceeded, soon afterwards, to the in- 
tended place of settlement; erected a small fort on 
the scite of Savanna; and obtained a cession of lands 
from the Creek tribe of Indians. The first company 
was followed by several others: — but the progress of 



116 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. IV. 

the colony was greatly obstructed, by an attempt to 
put it under a feudal system. The lands were to be 
held in tail-male, by the tenure of knight-service; 
and to revert to the trustees, either if the male issue 
should become extinct, — or if the ground were not 
enclosed and cultivated within eighteen vears. To 
complete the policy, the importation of rum and of 
negroes was prohibited; and all conmierce with the 
Indians was restricted to those, who could obtain a 
license. The natural consequences soon followed. 
A great -many of the settlers emigrated to Carolina; 
where they could hold lands in fee simple; could 
trade freely with the West Indies; and be permitted 
to employ negro slaves in the cultivation of their 
lands. Those who staid behind, were perpetually 
complaining of their fetters: and, though Mr Ogle- 
thorpe erected a battery, to connnand the mouth of 
the Savanna, and built forts at Augusta and Frede- 
rica, the colony needed civil privileges more than 
military defences, and their general concerns were 
soon in a ruinous condition. Under a different sys- 
tem, Carolina was so prosperous as to double her 
exports in ten years; while it was with the greatest 
difficulty, that the inhabitants of Georgia obtained 
a scanty subsistence. 

When England and Spain began to prepare for 
war, in 173<, a l^iitish regiment of six hundred mea 



©HAP. IV. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 117 

was sent into Carolina; and Mr. Oglethorpe was ap- 
pointed inajor-general of that province and of Georgia. 
The Spaniards fortified East Florida; and made a 
vain attempt to gain over the Indians, who were in 
aUiance with the English. They succeeded better 
with the slaves; of whom enough were seduced to form 
a distinct regiment by themselves. Nor did the evil 
f?top here. A large number of negroes assembled at 
Stono; forced open a warehouse of arms and ammuni- 
tion; murdered all the white men, whom they met; and 
compelled the black, willing or unwilling, to come 
under their standard. But it was a brief triumph. 
After the first impulse of rage was exhausted, the in- 
surgents halted in an open field; and began their usual 
pastime of dancing. There happened to be a religious 
meeting in the neighbourhood; and the congregation, 
armed as usual, set upon the thoughtless rabble; killed 
great numbers on the spot; and so frightened the rest, 
that they never afterwards dreamed of insurrection. 
There were now about forty thousand slaves in Ca- 
rolina; and the occurrence just mentioned had the 
good effect of making the colonists keep vigilant watch 
over their conduct, during the approach of the war 
between England and Spain. 

When it actually broke out, in 1739, Admiral 
Vernon was detached to the West Indies, and General 
Oglethorpe was ordered to annoy the Floridas. He 



118 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. IV. 

immediately communicated his instructions to the as- 
sembly of South Carolina: they voted one hundred and 
twenty thousand pounds for the service: a regiment 
of four hundred men was raised in Virginia and the 
Carolinas: a body of Indians enlisted; and Post Cap- 
tain Price promised his co-operation with four twenty- 
gun ships and two sloops of w^ir. On the 9th of May, 
1740, the general entered Florida, with four hundred 
men and a party of Indians from his own province. 
He was joined, at the mouth of St. John's River, by 
the Virginia and Carolina regiment, and a company 
of Highlanders; and was enabled, shortly after, to 
appear before St. Augustine, with about two thousand 
effective men. A reconnoitre of the place induced 
him to abandon his original design of ta- ing it by 
storm. A regular investment was determined upon; 
and the troops were disposed in the most advantageous 
positions for beginning the approaches. The general 
himself undertook to bombard the town from the 
Island of Anastatia; but a few shots convinced him 
that a breach, at so great a distance, was impracticable. 
It was next resolved to attack the six half gallies then 
in the harbour, by one of the twenty-gun ships; but 
the bar was found to be so shallow that she could not 
get over it. In the mean time, the Spaniards had re- 
ceived supplies and reinforcements; and a party of 
the besiegers was surprised and cut in pieces. Other 



GIIAP. IV. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 119 

misfortunes followed in quick succession. Captain 
Price witlidrevv his ships: the dispirited troops began 
to desert in large bodies; and General Oglethorpe 
was, at length, reluctantly compelled to abandon the 
enterprise. The colonists attributed the failure to 
the general; and the general laid it to the charge of the 
army. We think, neither was to blame. The force 
was too small at the outset; and, before a part of it 
reached the place of rendezvous, the arrival of sup- 
plies had greatly and unexpectedly increased the 
strength of the enemy. 

But, at any rate, the expenses entailed by the ex- 
pedition, joined to the still greater calamity of seeing 
their capital reduced to ashes, determined the people 
of Carolina to raise no forces in future, except for 
their own defence; and, v^'hen an expedition of thirty 
ships and three thousand men sailed against Georgia, 
in 1742, they imagined it would not be for their own 
defence, to aid .General Oglethorpe in preventing the 
enemy from getting possession of a province, which 
was so effectual a barrier to their own. About the 
end of June the enemy anchored off Simon's Bar: 
and General Oglethorpe found he had to oppose him 
with only seven hundred men, — consisting of the re- 
giment he led against St. Augustine, and of a few 
Highlanders, rangers, and Indians. But the thickets 
and morasses of the country stood him in the place of 



120 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. lY. 

nmny soldiers; and, retiring to Frcdcrica, he resolved 
to act, as long as he could, upon the defensive. By 
an English prisoner, who had escaped fioni the Spa- 
niards, he learned, that the troops from Cuba, and 
those from St. Augustine, agreed so ill with each 
other, tlilit they had taken up their encampments 
apart. One of these, the general thought he might 
venture to attack. He sele^cted the flower of his little 
army; and, under the cover of the night, marched un- 
observed within two miles of the lines. The main 
body was halted; while he went forward, wath a small 
party, to reconnoitre the encampment. He had, with 
great circumspection, approached very near it; when 
the whole enterprise was supposed to be defeated, by 
the treachery of a French soldier, who fired his mus- 
ket, and ran over to the enemy. General Oglethorpe 
wrote a letter to the deserter; requesting him to tell the 
Spaniards how defenceless Frederica was; to urge an 
immediate attack; or, at any rate, to. persuade them 
to remain at Simon's Fort three days longer; when his 
expected reinforcement of two thousand men and six 
ships of war w^ould arrive. He particularly cautioned 
him against dropping even a hint about the contem- 
plated attack of Admiral Vernon upon St. Augustine. 
A Spanish prisoner, who had been taken in a skir- 
mish, was bribed to deliver the letter into the deserter's 
own hands: but he, of course, delivered it into the 



CHAP. IV. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 12\ 

hands of General Don Antonio Di Radondo. The lat- 
ter was, at first, not a little perplexed, whether to con- 
sider it as a mere stratagem, or as a real and serious 
letter of instruction: but the appearance of some ships, 
which had been despatched with supplies by the as- 
sembly of South Carolina, appeared to put the serious- 
ness of the paper beyond all doubt. The panic- 
struck army set fire to the fort, and hurried on board 
of their vessels; and thus a circumstance, which, at 
first, seemed to threaten the certain conquest of the 
province, served, in the hands of a skilful commander, 
as perhaps the only means of its preservation. 



122 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. V. 



CHAPTER V. 

War between France and England and their Colonies — Pre- 
paration for an Attack upon Louisbourg — The Attack — 
Surrender — D'Anville's Expedition — Abortive Attempt 
upon Nova Scotia — Upon Crown Point — Peace — Paper 
Money in Massachusetts — Discovery of Louisiana and 
Foundation of New Orleans — Situation of the English and 
French Colonies— Origin of the Rupture between them — 
Colonel Washington's Embassy — Project of Union — Plan of 
the first Campaign — Capture of Nova Scotia — General Brad- 
dock's Defeat' — Expedition against Crown Point — That 
against Niagara — Second Campaign — Capture of Oswego 
—Third Campaign — Disputes between Lord Loudoun and 
IVIassachusetts — Fourth Campaign — Second Capture of 
Louisbourg — Unsuccessful attack upon Ticonderoga — Cap- 
ture of Fort Frontignac — Of Du Quesne — Fifth Campaign 
— Capture of Quebec — Death of Wolfe — Attempt to retake 
Quebec — Surrender of New France — General Peace. 

While France and England were engaged in aclua] 
war, under the pretence of supporting respectively the 
queen of Hungary and the elector of Bavaria, the co- 
lonies of the two nations preserved a sort of hostile 
peace; but, as soon as the news reached Cape Breton, 
that the controversy had become open and avowed in 
Europe, Duvivier attacked and took the English fish- 
ing settlement at Canseau; and, soon after, made a 
similar, though unsuccessful, attempt, upon Annapolis, 
Governor Shirley immediately formed the design of 



eHAP. V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 123 

taking Cape Breton. It was well situated for annoy- 
ing the English fisheries; and thirty millions of francs 
employed upon its fortifications, had made it the 
' Dunkirk of America.' The governor requested the 
secrecy of the court, upon a project, which he was 
about to communicate. They readily promised it: 
and he surprised them with the proposal of sending 
four hundred men to take Louisbourg by storm. They 
condemned the undertaking as vastly too hazardous 
and expensive: but, unfortunately, or, perhaps, fortu- 
nately, one of the members happened to pray for 
blessings upon it, in the family devotions at his lodg- 
ings. The plan was soon known, all over Massachu- 
setts: the people were generally in favour of it; and 
an influx of petitions, from every quarter, induced the 
council to change their determination. They invited 
the co-operation of all the colonies as far as Pennsyl- 
vania; but none, except those of New England, would 
furnish their quotas of troops. There was no military 
character of note in the country; and the command of 
the expedition was given to one Colonel Pepperel; 
who had little other qualification than that of being a 
rich merchant and a popular man. A general embar- 
go was laid: more bills of credit were issued, not- 
withstanding the express prohibition of the crown: ' a 
' variety of advice, (says Mr. Belknap,) was given from 
' all quarters:' private property was impressed; and, by 



124 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. V. 

the 4th of April, 1745, three thousand two hundred 
and fifty troops from Massachusetts arrived safely at 
Canseau. The quota of three hundred and four, from 
New Hampshire, had landed four days before; that of 
five hundred and sixteen, from Connecticut, came in, 
on the 25th of the same month; but the troops from 
Rhode Island did not arrive in time to be of any ser- 
vice to the expedition. 

Governor Shirley had written to England for as- 
sistance, some time before the disclosure of his project 
to the general court; and a detachment from Admiral 
Warren's fleet in the West Indies, appeared off Can- 
seau, the day before the arrival of the Massachusetts 
troops: the admiral himself soon followed, in the Su- 
perb, of sixty guns; and, every thing being now ready, 
the land forces embarked for Chapeaurouge; while 
the fleet, (in all, about one hundred sail,) manoeuvred 
before Louisbourg. The landing was effected with 
little difficulty; and, in the course of the ensuing night, 
a party of four hundred men marched around to 
the north-east part of the harbour; and set fire to 
some warehouses of spiritous liquors and naval stores. 
The smoke was blown directly into the grand battery; 
and it did such signal execution, that, when thirteen 
of the party were returning, next day, they saw, with 
surprise and joy, that the flagstaff was bare, and the 
chimnies without smoke. An Indian was hired, for 



CHAP. V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 125 

a bottle of rum, to crawl in at an embrasure, and open 
the gate; and, though a detachment of the enemy was 
then coming to retake the fort, the thiiteen retained 
possession, till the arrival of a reinforcement from the 
main body. 

Fourteen nights were the troops enpjaged in 
drawing the cannon over a morass to the place of 
encampment, a distance of about two miles; and, whrn 
the account of the expedition was sent to England, 
they were not a little indignant at seeing no mention 
of their having worked like oxen, with straps over 
their shoulders, and up to their knees in mud. As 
this expedition had been planned by a lawyer, and was 
to be executed by a merchant, at the head of hus- 
bandmen and mechanics, any thing like a regular siege 
was not to have been expected. The soldiers laughed 
at such words as zig-zag and epaulement; and thought, 
the most eligible mode of approaching, was that of 
a straight line. In execution of this new principle 
of tactics, four hundred men assaulted the island-bat- 
tery; were repulsed; and many of them taken prisoners. 
They all concurred in representing the besiegers as 
much more numerous than they were: though all was 
frolic in the rear of the army, the front did, indeed, 
look formidable; and the impression made by these 
reports and appearances, together with the intelli- 
gence, which w as conveyed into town, that the supply 
ship, the Vigilant, of sixty-four guns, had been taken. 



12() THE UNITED STATES CHAP. V. 

induced Duchambon, the governor, to tender a ca- 
pitulation. This was the only advantage gained over 
France, during the whole war; and, when accounts 
of it reached England, the crown made baronets of 
Pepperel and Shirley, and the parliament readily un- 
dertook to defray the expenses. 

France and England now mutually resolved to 
make a complete conquest of each other's possessions 
in America; and, in the spring of 1746, circular letters 
were sent to the English colonies as far as Virginia, 
to have in readiness as many troops as each might be 
•able to spare. The plan of the campaign, was, to sail 
against (Quebec, with some ships of war and the New 
England troops; while those of the other colonies 
should be collected at Albany, and march against 
Crown Point and Montreal. The ships of war made 
seven vain attempts to leave England; and the first 
part of the scheme was necessarily abandoned. The 
colonists were diverted from the last, by a threatened 
attack of the enemy upon Annapolis; and, before they 
could despatch troops for the protection of that place, 
New England, in particular, was greatly alarmed by 
the intelligence, that a formidable armament, under 
the Duke D'Anville, had arrived in Nova Scotia. 
Every efibrt was made to put the country in a state of 
defence. The militia were joined to the troops al- 
ready raised; and, for six weeks, all stood in hourly 



CHAP. V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 127 

expectation of an attack; when some English prison- 
ers, who had been set at hberty, brought the welcome 
news, that the French soldiers were in too much dis- 
tress themselves to think of distressing others. The 
armament originally consisted of about forty ships of 
war, and about fifty-six transports; carrying three 
thousand troops, and forty thousand muskets for the 
Canadians and Indians. Many ships were lost and 
wrecked on the voyage; and a sweeping mortality 
prevailed on board of those, which had reached the 
place of destination. To increase their calamities, 
they learned, by an intercepted letter from Governor 
Shirley to the commander at Louisbourg, that their 
own squadron would probably be followed by an Eng- 
lish fleet. The admiral shortly died: the vice-admiral 
killed himself: and, when M. Le Jonquiere undertook 
to lead the fleet against Annapolis, a violent storm dis- 
persed the ships; and those, that did not suffer wreck, 
returned singly to France. 

Governor Shirley now resumed the project of dis- 
lodging the French and Indians from Nova Scotia. 
The troops of Rhode Island and New Hampshire 
were prevented from joining the expedition; and the 
enemy was not only more numerous than those of 
Massachusetts, — but had the advantage of being pro- 
vided with snow-shoes. The English were beaten at 
Minas; and promised not to bear arms for one year. 



12S THE UNITED STATES CHAP. V. 

against the French in Nova Scotia. Governor Shirley- 
next directed his attention to Crown Point. Massa- 
chusetts and New York engaged to furnish their 
quotas of troops: the winter was no obstacle to 
the governor's enthusiasm; and the enterprise was 
only prevented by the discreet resolution of Connec- 
ticut, to withhold her co-operation. The treaty of 
Aix-la-Chapelle was concluded in October, 1748; and 
New England deemed it but a poor return for the 
expenses, which she had incurred, that an article of 
status ante bellum compelled her to relinquish Louis- 
bourg. Massachusetts, in particular, had issued im- 
mense quantities of paper-money. Was there a call 
upon the treasury? Bills of credit must answer it. 
Was trade decaying? It could only be revived by bills 
of credit. Was there any disorder in the internal 
economy of the province? Bills of credit were the only 
remedy. And bills of credit were issued in such quan- 
tities, that they had sunk to eleven for one; when the 
arrival of the specie, which parliament had promised, 
was the means not only of staying the depreciation, — 
but of destroying paper-money altogether. After some 
opposition, the general court passed an act for re- 
deeming bills of credit, at their real value, or, in other 
words, for silver at fifty shillings the ounce. Not an 
evil, which had been predicted, was seen to attend the 
measure; and, on the contrary, it is said to have given 
commerce a very perceptible impulse for the better. 



CHAP. V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 120 

As the importance of America was daily increas- 
ing in the eyes of Europe, the question of boundaries 
between the colonies of (Hiferent nations began to be 
discussed more frequently, and in greater earnest. 
Spain had pretensions to the whole of Georgia; and 
England laid claim to a pait of Florida. By the 
treaty of Utrecht, Nova Scotia, or Acadia, was, in- 
deed, ceded to the English; but there was still room 
enough for controversy, in determining what were 
the boundaries of that country. The French assert- 
ed, that its eastern line was the Kennebec: the Enii- 
lish made it embrace the whole territory south of the 
St. Lawrence; and the commissioners appointed by 
the two nations, under the treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle. 
were equally laborious and equally obstinate in main- 
taining their respective claims. Nov was this the only 
conllict. As if these two nations were fated to cross 
each other's path, in every thing, while the English 
colonies were advancing indefinitely from east to west, 
the French began to extend their own settlements 
transversely from north to south. In 161 o, they ex- 
plored the Mississippi, as far as the thirty-third degree 
of north latitude; and, some time afterwards, its 
mouth was discovered by one La Salle, a Norman; 
who subsequently obtained the patronage of the 
French court, in an attempt to make a settlement on 
its banks. He set sail with a few followers, in four 

R 



130 THE UiMTED STATES CHAP. V. 

small vessels; arrived one hundred leagues west of 
the river; was soon assassinated by his own men; and 
they, in turn, were murdered, or dispersed, by the 
Spanish and Indians. Several other expeditions 
were undertaken, for the same purpose; but none 
were fortunate enough to land at the wished for 
place; and it was not till 1122, that a joint removal 
of these scattered settlements to New Orleans laid 
the foundation of a flourishing colony. The country 
was called Louisiana; and, as settlements now began 
to extend up the Mississippi, a plan was formed to 
unite them with Canada, by a concatenation of forts. 
England claimed the country to the South Sea: 
France was resolved to bound her by the Alleghany 
mountains; and, as usual, the controversy soon ended 
in a reciprocal determination of fighting it out. 

There was a great disparity of numbers between 
the French and English colonies. Nova Scotia con- 
tained five thousand inhabitants: New Hampshire, 
thirty thousand: Massachusetts, two hundred and 
twenty thousand: Rhode Island, thirty -five thousand: 
Connecticut, one hundred thousand: New York, one 
hundred thousand: the Jerseys, sixty thousand: Penn- 
sylvania, including Delaware, two hundred and fifty 
thousand: Maryland, eighty-five thousand: Virginia, 
eighty-five thousand: the Carolinas, seventy-five thou- 
sand: Georgia, six thousand: — in all, one million fifty- 



CHAP. V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 131 

one thousand. Canada contained but forty-five thou- 
sand: Louisiana, but seven thousand: — total, fifty-two 
thousand. To compensate, in part, for this numeri- 
cal inferiority, the French had the advantage of being 
guided by one and the same hand; whereas the Eng- 
lish were divided into separate clans, and unaccus- 
tomed to act in concert. All the Indians, except the 
Five Nations, were on the side of France; and, what 
was of still greater service to her cause, the governors 
of Canada had all been military men; had employed 
the inhabitants in erecting fortifications to command 
Lake Champlain, and the River St. Lawrence; and 
were now proceeding to complete the chain, by ex- 
tending the links along the other western lakes, and 
down the Mississippi. 

The circumstance, which served to open the 
quarrel, was the alleged intrusion of the Ohio Com- 
pany; an association of influential men from Eng- 
land and Virginia, who had obtained a grant of six 
hundred thousand acres of land, in order to drive 
a fur trade with the Indians. The governor of 
Canada wrote to the governors of New York and 
Pennsylvania, that, unless these intruders were re- 
moved from the territory of his most Christian ma- 
jesty, he should be under the necessity of seizing 
them. The threat was disregarded; and the traders 
were seized. A communication was immediately 
opened, along French Creek and Alleghany River^ 



IS2 THE UNITED STATES VUAr. V. 

between the Ohio and Fort Presqii'Ile; and troops, 
stationed at convenient distances, were secured, by 
temporary works, against any attack of small arms. 
The Ohio company made loud complaints: Lieutenant- 
Governor Dinwiddie laid the subject before the assem- 
bly of Virginia; and despatched Major Washington, 
with a letter to the P^rench commander; in which he 
was required to quit the dominions of his Britannic 
majesty. M. Legardeur de St. Pierre ti'ansmitted the 
letter to the governor of Canada; whose orders, he 
said, he sliould implicitly follow. Early in the spring 
of 1755, Major Washington, on the death of his colo- 
nel, took the command of a regiment, raised in Vir- 
ginia, for the protection of the frontiers. He defeated 
a party of French and Indians, under Dijonville; and 
was proceeding to occupy the post, at the fork of the 
Alleghany and Monongahela Rivers, when he was 
met, at the Little Meadows, by a superior force; and, 
after a gallant defence, was compelled to surrender. 
The French had already erected the strong fort of 
Du Quesne, on the ground of which he had intended 
to take possession. 

The provincial governors received orders from 
the secretary of state, to repel force by force; and, if 
practicable, to form a Union among the several colo- 
nies. Delegates had already been appointed to meet 
at Albany, for the purpose of conferring with the 



CHAP. V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. lOO 

Five Nations: and Governor Shirley recommended, 
that the subject of union should, also, be discussed at 
the convention. The commissioners from Massachu- 
setts had ample powers to co-operate in the formation 
of a plan: those from Maryland were instructed to 
observe what others did; and those from New Hamp- 
shire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, and 
New York, had no instructions at all on the subject. 
As soon, however, as the friendship of the Indians 
was thought to be secured by a distribution of pre- 
sents, the delegates appointed a committee, to devise 
some scheme for the proposed confederation; — and 
the committee recommended the adoption of a govern- 
ment analogous to that of the individual colonies. 
There was to be a grand council, composed of depu- 
ties from the several provinces, — and a president- 
general, appointed by the crown, v,ith the power of 
negativing the acts of the council. The Connecticut 
delegates alone dissented from this plan; because, as 
they said, it put too much power into the hands of the 
crown. It was rejected in England for the very op- 
posite reason; and, in lieu of it, the minister proposed, 
that the several governors, with one or two of their 
counsellors, should meet and adopt such measures as 
the common safety might demand. But this scheme 
was defeated by a provision, that they might draw 
upon the British treasury for all necessary sums; 



1 34 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. V. 

vvhicli parliament would undertake to repay, by im- 
posing a general tax upon the colonies. It was now- 
resolved, therefore, to carry on the war with Bri- 
tish troops; and leave the provincial legislatures to 
supply such reinforcements as each was willing or 
able to afford. 

Early in 1755, General Braddock set sail from 
England, with a respectable body of troops; and, 
about the same time, Admiral Boscawen was de- 
spatched to this country, in order to intercept a 
French armament, which was then fitting out for 
Canada. The provincial governors met General 
Braddock, in Virginia, on the 14th of April; and it 
was resolved to divide the campaign into three sepa- 
rate expeditions; — the first against Du Q,uesne, with 
the British, Virginia, and Maryland forces, under 
General Braddock; — the second against Fort Fron- 
tignac, with the Massachusetts regulars, under Go- 
vernor Shirley; — the third against Crown Point, with 
New England and New York troops, under General 
William Johnson, one of the New York council. 
Massachusetts, in the mean time, undertook, singly, 
to drive the French from Nova Scotia; and, on the 
20th of May, three thousand troops were despatched 
for the purpose, under Lieutenant-Colonel Winslow. 
They arrived at Annapolis Royal, on the 28th; an- 
chored, soon after, before Fort Lawrence, in Che- 



CHAP. V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 135 

necto, with a fleet of forty sail; and, being joined by 
three hundred British troops, with some artillery, 
marched immediately against Beau Sejour. A block 
house, with a few cannon, and a breast-work, with a 
few troops behind it, opposed the passage of the Mus- 
saguash; which, according to the French, was the 
Avestern limit of Nova Scotia. The passage was 
forced, with the loss of one man ; and entrenchments 
were immediately opened before Beau Sejour. The 
garrison surrendered on the fifth day: Fort Gaspe- 
reau soon followed the example; the appearance of 
three twenty-gun ships induced the enemy to set fire 
to his works at St. Johns; and thus, in tlic single 
month of June, with the loss of but three men, the 
English gained possession of Nova Scotia, according 
to their own definition of the term. 

As soon as the convention of governors was 
dissolved. General Braddock proceeded to the post 
at Wells' Creek; whence the army commenced its 
march, about the middle of June. Their progress 
was very much retarded by tlie necessity of cutting a 
road: and, lest the enemy should have time to collect 
in great force, the general concluded to set forward 
with twelve hundred select men; while Colonel Dun- 
bar should follow slowly in the rear, with the main 
body and the heavy baggage. Mr. Washington's 
regiment had been split into separate companies; and 



Ii5(i THE UNITED STATES CHAP. V. 

lie had ouly joined the army as aid to the general. 
The rouglmessof the country prevented the advanced 
coi'ps from reaching the Monongahela till the 8th of 
July. It was resolved to attack Du Quesne, the very 
next day; and Lieutenant-Colonel Gage was sent in 
front, with three hundred British regulars; while the ge- 
neral himself followed, at some distance, with the main 
body. lie had been cautioned to provide against an 
ambuscade, by sending forward some provincial com- 
panies to scour the woods; but he held the provincials 
and the eneu\y in equal contempt. The Monongahela 
was crossed the second time, about seven miles from 
Du Q,uesne; and the army was pressing forward in an 
open wood, tln-ough high and thick grass, — when the 
front was suddenly thrown into disorder, by a volley 
of small arms. The main body was formed three deep, 
and brought to its support: the commander in chief 
of the enemy fell; and a cessation of the fire led Ge- 
neral Braddock to suppose that the assailants had fled. 
But he was soon attacked, with redoubled fury. The 
van fell upon the main body: both were in utter con- 
fusion; and the general, instead of withdrawing them 
beyond the reach of the enemy's muskets, where their 
ranks might easily have been formed anew, under- 
took to rally them, on the very ground of attack, and 
in the midst of a most incessant and deadly fire. Every 
oificcr on horseback, excej)t Mr. Washington., was 



CHAP V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 187 

eitlier killed or wounded: the general himself received 
a mortal wound, alter losing three horses: the regu- 
lars fled: the provincials followed; and, had not the 
booty on the field arrested the pursuit of the Indians, 
hardly a single soldier could have escaped to carry 
home the intelligence. Sixty-four officers, out of 
eighty-five, and about half of the privates, were killed 
or wounded. General Braddock died in Dunbar's 
camp; and the army marched back to Philadelphia. 

The expedition against Crown Point did not turn 
out quite so disastrously. Much delay was occasioned 
by the distracted councils of so many different govern- 
ments; and it was not till the last of August, that Ge- 
neral Johnson, with three thousand seven hundred 
men, arrived at the fort of Lake George, on his way 
to Ticonderoga. The French squadron had eluded 
Admiral Boscawen; and, as soon as it arrived at Q,ue- 
bec, Baron Dieskau, the commander, resolved to 
march immediately against Oswego, with his own 
twelve hundred regulars, and about six hundred Ca- 
nadians and Indians. The news of General John- 
son's movement determined him to change his plan: 
and to lead his forces directly against the American 
camp. General Johnson called for reinforcements: 
eight hundred troops, raised as a corps of reserve by 
Massachusetts, vi^ere immediately ordered to his assist- 
ance; and the same colony undertook to raise an 

s 



138 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. V. 

additional number of two thousand men. Colonel 
Williams was sent forward, with one thousand men, 
to amuse and reconnoitre the enemy. He met them, 
four miles from the camp; offered battle; and was de- 
feated. Another detachment shared the same fate: 
and the French were now within one hundred and 
fifty yards of the camp; when a halt for a short time 
enabled the Americans to recover their alarm, and to 
make good use of their artillery through the fallen 
trees, behind which they were posted. Dieskau ad- 
vanced to the charge; but he was so firmly received, 
that the Indians and militia gave way and fled: he was 
obliged to order a retreat of the regulars; and, in the 
ardent pursuit which ensued, he was himself mortally 
wounded, and made prisoner. A scouting party had, 
in the mean time, taken the enemy's baggage; and, 
when the retreating army came up, the same party 
attacked it so successfully from behind the trees, that 
the panic-struck soldiers dropped all their accoutre- 
ments, and fled, in the utmost confusion, for their posts 
on the lakes. This was called a great victory. The 
king made General Johnson a baronet, and the par- 
liament gave him five hundred pounds sterling. But 
the colonies derived no essential benefit from the ex- 
pedition. The soldiers were in want of clothes and 
provisions; and a council of war determined to em- 
ploy the remainder of the time in fortifying the camp. 



CHAP. V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 139 

Mossaciinsetts was, at first, very urgent for the prose- 
cution of the campaign; but, when its commissioners 
met those of Connecticut, and the Heutenant-governor 
and council of New York, it was determined to dis- 
charge all, except six hundred of General Johnson's 
army; and to employ those six hundred in garrisoning 
forts Edward and William Henry. The French oc- 
cupied themselves in fortifying Ticonderoga. 

The campaign against Niagara, and Frontignac, 
was still less fruitful of glory, or of gain. Governor 
Shirley did not reach Oswego till late in August; and 
a considerable time was afterwards spent in ascertain- 
ing the strength of the enemy, at the two posts, which 
he designed to attack. He had, in all, about fifteen 
hundred men: it was resolved, for the present, to pro- 
ceed against Niagara alone; and between six and seven 
hundred troops were detached for the purpose. Just 
as they were about to embark, however, the rains set 
in, and put an entire stop to the whole undertaking. 
Governor Shirley returned to Albany with about half 
of his men. And thus ended the campaign of 1755; 
which, from the decided superiority of the English 
forces, seemed, at first, to promise so very different a 
result. It had this good effect, that it made the colo- 
nists feel, more sensibly than ever, the want of some 
superintending general government. Each particular 
legislature had been left to furnish its own supplies of 



140 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. \, 

troops and funds. Each colony imagined itself to have 
furnished more than its proportion: all, therefore, 
thought themselves abused by the mother country; 
and, with, perhaps, a single exception, none were dis- 
posed to engage, or to persevere, in the enterprise, 
with the requisite promptitude and cheerfulness. The 
consequence, as we have seen, was the total failure 
of the campaign; and the consequence of that, was 
the exposure of the whole frontier, as far as Carolina, 
to the ravages of the Indians. 

At the close of the campaign, Governor Shirley 
was appointed commander in chief of all the king's 
forces in North America. The governors of Con- 
necticut, New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland, 
held a council of war at Albany: and it was resolved 
to employ, next year, ten thousand men against Crown 
Point; six thousand against Niagara, and three thou- 
sand against Du Q^uesne; while about two thousand 
more should ascend the Kennebec, and keep the east- 
ern part of Canada in alarm. It was a part of the 
plan, also, to make an attack upon Ticonderoga, as 
soon as the ice on the lake should be strong enough 
to sustain the transportation of stores. But, as the 
season proved unsually mild, this enterprise was relin- 
quished; and general Shirley gave himself exclusively 
to the preparations foi- the other parts of the campaign. 
Major-General Winslow was appointed to lead the 



CHAP. V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 141 

expedition against Crown Point. He was a popular 
officer; and the colonists felt a deep interest in the 
expedition: but, for the want of an established finan- 
cial system, (their only taxes were upon lands and 
polls,) the requisite funds were raised with difficulty, 
and the recruiting service made very slow progress. 
Only seven thousand men assembled at the posts on 
Lake George. General Winslow declared, that, with- 
out more forces, he could not undertake the expedition; 
and it would probably have been abandoned, had he 
not been reinforced by the timely arrival of some 
British troops. They came over with General Aber- 
crombie, who had supei'seded General Shirley; and 
who was soon after superseded by the Earl of Loudoun. 
These revolutions of office produced some unpleasant 
contests for priority of rank. General Winslow as- 
serted frankly, that the provincials would never be 
commanded by British officers: and the Earl of Lou- 
doun seriously propounded the question, whether the 
colonial troops, armed with his majesty's arms, would 
refuse obedience to his majesty's commands and to 
his majesty's commanders.^ He was answered in the 
affirmative; and, when he understood, that the New 
England troops, in particular, had enlisted under the 
condition of being led by their own officers, he agreed 
to let those troops act separately. 

While the English were adjusting these differences, 



142 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. V. 

and debating whether it would be expedient to attack 
Fort Niagara, or Fort Du Ctuesne, Montcahn, the 
successor of Dieskau, marched against Oswego with 
about five thousand French, Canadians, and Indians. 
His artillery played, with such effect, upon the fort, 
that it was soon declared untenable; and, to avoid an 
assault, the garrison, who were sixteen hundred in 
number, and had stores for five months, surrendered 
themselves prisoners of war. The fort had been an 
object of considerable jealousy to the Five Nations; 
and Montcalm made a wise use of his conquest, by 
demolishing it in their presence. The English and 
American army was now thrown upon the defensive. 
Instead of attacking Ticonderoga, General Winslow 
was ordered to fortify his own camp: Major-General 
Webb, with fourteen hundred regulars, took post near 
Wood Creek; and Sir William Johnson, with one 
thousand militia, was stationed at the German Flats. 
The colonists were now called upon for reinforce- 
ments; and, as parliament had distiibuted* among 
them one hundred and fifteen thousand pounds for the 
last year's expenses, they were enabled to answer the 
call, with, perhaps, more promptitude than was an- 

* To Massachusetts, fifty-four thousand pounds; to Connecticut, twenty- 
six thousand ; to New York, fifteen thousand ; to New Hampshire, eight 
tliousand ; to Rhode Island, seven thousand ; to New Jersey, five thou- 
sand. 



CHAP. V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 143 

ticipated. The recruits were on their way to the 
camp, — when intelhgence of the small-pox at Albany 
frighted them all to their homes again. The other 
provincials were equally alarmed; and all, except a 
New York regiment, were dismissed. Thus termi- 
nated the second campaign. The expedition up the 
Kennebec had been abandoned; that against Niagara 
was not commenced; and not even a preparation had 
been made for the one against Du Qiiesne. 

In a council of the northern governors, held at 
Boston, about the middle of January, 1757, Lord 
Loudoun attributed the failure of the campaign to 
the remissness of the colonies. He said, that the pro- 
vincials had not realized his anticipations, either in 
numbers, or in quality; that his predecessor had not 
reported to him the actual state of the forts and gar- 
risons; that the legislatures had answered his requisi- 
tions of assistance with nothing but empty votes; and 
that, had it not been for the arrival of the Highland- 
ers, the country must have been overrun and sub- 
dued. He proposed, therefore, that four thousand 
men should be raised by New England; — eighteen 
hundred, by Massachusetts ; fourteen hundred, by Con- 
necticut; four hundred and fifty, by Rhode Island; 
and three hundred and fifty, by New Hampshire. Pro- 
portional requisitions were made upon New York 
and New Jersey; and, notwithstanding the disasters 



144 THE U^■ITED STATES CHAP. V- 

of the two first campaigns, the colonists were still in 
hopes of making a successful attack upon Canada. 
About the first of July, Admiral Holbourn arrived at 
Halifax with a formidable squadron of ships, and a 
body of five thousand men, under George Viscount 
Howe; and, on the 6th, Lord Loudoun sailed from 
New York to join them, with his six thousand regu- 
lars. Instead of attempting, as formerly, to assail the 
whole frontier of Canada, the commanders had re- 
solved to concentrate their forces against the single 
point of Louisbourg; but, unfortunately, the arrival 
of a fleet from Brest added six thousand men, and 
seventeen line of battle ships, to the strength of that 
town. The enterprise was postponed till next year: 
the fleet and army arrived at New York in August* 
and the provincials were immediately dismissed. In 
the mean time, the Marquis de Montcalm had laid 
siege to Fort William Henry, with nine thousand 
men. The place was garrisoned with three thousand: 
its fortifications were strong; and General Webb was 
in the neighbourhood, at Fort Edward, with an army 
of four thousand men. With all these advantages on 
his side, Colonel Monroe held out but six days: and 
the arrival of the army at New York was, perhaps, 
the only thing which prevented General Webb from 
following the example. 

The army went into winter quarters: and Lord 



CHAP. V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 145 

Londoiin engaged in a quarrel with Massachusetts. 
The general court had provided barracks, on Castle 
Island, for a regiment of Highlanders, which had 
been expected at Boston. Some recruiting officers 
soon afterwards arrived from Nova Scotia; and, pro- 
testing, that their regiments would never be filled up, 
if the men must be lodged in these barracks, they 
required the justices of the peace to furnish quarters, 
according to the act of parliament. The justices 
denied, that the act of parliament extended to this 
country. Lord Loudoun wrote the court a letter; and 
asserted roundly, that it did; that, moreover, he had 
'used gentleness and patience' long enough; and that, 
unless the requisitions were complied with, in forty- 
eight hours from the receipt of his letter, he should 
be ' under the necessity' of ordering ' into Boston the 
'three battalions from New York, Long Island, and 
'Connecticut; and, if more were wanting, he had two 
' in the Jerseys at hand, beside those in Pennsylvania.' 
The general court now passed an act very similar to 
that of parliament, on the subject of recruits: but it 
did not fully answer Lord Loudoun's expectations; 
nor did he fail to let them know it, in a second epis- 
tle. The answer of the general court was merely a 
reiteration of what we have so often heard from the 
same body. They asserted their rights as English- 
men: said, they had conformed to the act of parlia- 



146 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. \. 

merit, as nearly as the case would admit; and declared, 
that it was their misfortune, if a strict adherence to 
their duty should give offence to Lord Loudoun. He, 
in turn, applauded the zeal of the province in the ser- 
vice of his majesty; affected to rely on its compliance 
with his wishes; and countermanded his orders for 
the march of the troops. The general court sent his 
excellency a concluding message; in which they as- 
serted, that they were entirely dependent on parlia- 
ment; that its acts were the rule of all their judicial 
proceedings; that its authority had never been ques- 
tioned; and that, if they had not made this avowal 
'in times past, it was because there had been no 
•^occasion for it.^ Judge Marshall seems to think, that 
this language was sincere; but Mr. Minot attributes 
it to the desire of the court to keep friends with par- 
liament, till they were reimbursed for the expenses, 
which they liad incurred during the war. The truth 
is probably between the two opinions. 

By retaining the possession of Du Q,uesne, the 
French still kept their ascendancy over the Indians; 
by destroying Fort Oswego, they had gained the do- 
minion of those waters, which connect Canada with 
Louisiana; and, by capturing Fort William Ilenry^ 
they had secured the gate, if we may so call it, be- 
tween Canada and the British provinces. The Eng- 
lish were strangely unsuccessful in Europe, as well as 



CflAP. V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 147 

in America; and there were not wanting those who 
imagined, that the nation had lost its character, and 
must soon lose its importance. It was a time, which 
called for all the vigorous powers, and the indefatiga- 
ble application, of such a man as Pitt; who, by show- 
ing himself the minister of the nation, and not the 
leader of a pai'ty, — and by steadily and skilfully di- 
recting the vast resources of the country to the single 
object of national aggrandizement, — was enabled to 
carry his sinking and desperate countrymen through 
all their accumulated difficulties. He was equally 
popular in both hemispheres; and so promptly did the 
governors of the northern colonies obey the requisi- 
tions of his circular letter, in 1757, that, by May, of 
the next year, Massachusetts had seven thousand^ 
Connecticut, five thousand, and New Hampshire, 
three thousand, troops, prepared to take the field. 
The zeal of ]Massachusetts was particularly ardent. 
The people of Boston supported taxes, which took 
away two-thirds of the income on real estate: one 
half of the effective men in the province were on 
some sort of military duty;* and, what is still more 
extraordinary, the transports for carrying the troops 
to Halifax were ready to sail, in fourteen days from 
the time of their engagement. The mother countiy 

* A great proportion of the seamen and artificers, as well as of the 
troops on the frontiers, were from this colony. 



145 THE UNITED STATES t!HAP. V. 

was not less active. While her fleets blockaded or 
captured the French armaments, she despatched Ad- 
miral Boscawen to Halifax, with a formidable squad- 
ron of ships, and an army of twelve thousand men. 
Lord Loudoun was superseded by General Aber- 
crombie; who, early in the spring of 1758, was ready 
to enter upon the campaign with about fifty thousand 
men. 

It was resolved to direct one expedition against 
Du Q^uesne; a second against Crown Point; and the 
third against Louisbourg. By the 2d of June, Gene- 
ral Anjherst and Admiral Boscawen were before the 
latter place, with fourteen thousand troops, twenty 
ships of the line, and eighteen frigates. So success- 
fully had England employed her naval superiority, that 
Chevalier De Drucourt had received no reinforce- 
ments from France; and, besides five ships of the line^ 
one fifty-gun ship, and five frigates, three of which 
were sunk at the mouth of the harbour, he was obliged 
to oppose, or rather to await, this formidable arma- 
ment, with only twenty-five hundred -regulars, and 
about six hundred militia. The English and Ameri- 
can army landed at Cormoran Creek; and General 
Wolfe was immediately despatched, with two thou- 
snnd men, to seize Light-House Point, — an eminence, 
occupied by the enemy, which, in a measure, com- 
mands the ships in the harbour, and the fortifications 



CHAP. V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 149 

in the town. It was soon crowned with several strong 
batteries of heavy guns: other batteries were erected 
on the opposite side of the town; and, the approaches 
of the army being slow, a heavy and incessant can- 
nonade was kept up. A bomb, from Light-House 
Point, set fire to one of the enemy's ships; which 
conmiunicated the flames to two others; and all three 
were blown up, one after the other. Next a detach- 
ment of six hundred seamen, in boats, attacked the 
two remaining ships of the hne; destroyed one; and 
towed off the other. The English were now in com- 
plete possession of the harbour: several practical 
breaches had been made in the enemy's works; and 
the town was declared to be no longer tenable. The 
governor proposed a capitulation similar to the one 
made at Port Mahon; but the English insisted upon 
the surrender of the garrison as prisoners of war; 
and, though Drucourt at first rejected such humiliat- 
ing terms, a petition from the inhabitants induced him 
to yield his acceptance. Cape Breton was an im- 
portant conquest, not only as a strong naval and mili- 
tary position, — but as a sort of vantage-ground for a 
successful descent upon Q,uebec. 

The expedition against Ticonderoga was com- 
manded by General Abercrombie; who embarked on 
Lake George with fourteen thousand men, in one 
hundred and twenty- five whale-boats, and nine hun- 



I5i) THE UNITED STATES CHAP. V. 

(Ired batteaux. The advanced guard of the enemy, 
posted in a log-camp, on the west side of the lake, 
was soon forced to retreat; and, after exp.'Miencing 
considerable difficulties in marching through the 
woods, General Abercrombie arrived and encamped 
at the Saw-Mills, two miles distant from Ticonderoga. 
In front of the fort, the enemy had nearly five thousand 
men posted behind a breastwork, about nine feet in 
height, and rendered almost inapproachable by fallen 
trees. The fort itself was garrisoned witii the usual 
number of men; and possessed the natural advantage 
of having the water on three sides, and m morass on 
the fourth. General Abercrombie sent an engineer 
across the river, to ascertain the state of the works. 
He reported, that they were imperfect, and, of course, 
practicable; and the army was immediately marshalled 
for an assault; — the rangers, light infantry, and right 
wing of the provincials, in front; the regulars, who 
were chiefly relied on, in the rear. The troops 
marched to the storm with great intrepidity; but, fall- 
ing among the trees, they only became marks for the 
fire of the enemy; and, after seeing their courage in 
vain exerted for four hours, the general was under the 
necessity of calling them off. The loss of nearly two 
thousand men, in killed and wounded, was the fruits 
of this temerity. 

General Abercrombie immediately re-crossed Lake 



GHAP. V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 1.51 

George; and entirely abandoned the project of cap- 
turing Ticonderoga. Colonel Bradstreet proposed 
to finish the campaign with an expedition against 
Frontignac; a fort, which, by being placed on the 
north side of tlic St. Lawrence, just where it issues 
from Lake Ontario, was the key to the communication 
between Canada and Louisiana. It served, also, to 
keep the Indians in subjection; and was the general 
repository of stores for the enemy's western and south- 
ern posts. Late in the evening of the 25th of August, 
Colonel Bradstreet landed within a mile of the place, 
with three thousand men, eight pieces of cannon, and 
three mortars. The French had not anticipated an 
attack at this point; and the garrison consisted of only 
one hundred and ten men, with a few Indian auxili- 
aries. It was impossible to hold out long: Colonel 
Bradstreet posted his mortars so near the fort, that 
every shell took effect; and the commander was very 
soon obliged to surrender at discretion. The booty 
consisted of sixty pieces of cannon, great numbers of 
small arms, provisions, military stores, goods to a large 
amount, and nine armed vessels of from eight lo 
eigliteen guns. Colonel Bradstreet destroyed the fort 
and vessels; re-crossed the Ontario, and returned to 
the army. 

Had it not been for this fortunate enterprise, the 
unaccountable delay in preparing the expedition 



152 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. V, 

against Du Q,iiesiie would, probably, have left that 
fort, a third time, in possession of the enemy. It was 
not until June, that the commander, General Forbes, 
set out from Philadelphia: it was Se[)tember, before 
Colonel Washington, with the Virginia regulars, was 
ordered to join the main body at Ray^s Town; and it 
was as late as November, when, owing to the difficul- 
ties of cutting a new road, the army appeared before 
Du Q,uesne. The garrison, deserted by the Indians, 
and without adequate means of defence, had escaped 
down the Ohio, the evening before the arrival of the 
British; who had only to take possession, therefore, in 
the king's name. The fort was supplied with a new 
garrison; and the name changed to Pittsburg The 
Indians, as usual, joined the strongest side. A peace 
was concluded with all the tribes between the Ohio 
and the lakes; and the frontier inhabitants of Penn- 
sylvania, Maryland, and Virginia, were once more 
relieved from the terrors of fire and scalping knives. 

The advantages of this campaign, though very 
important, had been purchased with almost the last 
eflfort of provincial strength; and, when a circular 
letter from Mr. Pitt to the several governors, in- 
duced the colonies to resolve upon making the most 
vigorous preparation for the next, they soon dis- 
covered, that their resources v/ere. by no means, 
commensurate with their zeal. Massachusetts^ the 



©HAP. V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 152 

leading province, could only vote^ye, instead of seven, 
thousand men; and the other colonies followed the 
example, in a proportional diminution of their respec- 
tive quotas. By a letter of expostulation from Major- 
General Amherst, who had superseded Abercrombie, 
the legislature of Massachusetts were persuaded to 
raise an additional force of fifteen hundred men; 
though, from a decrease in the population of the co- 
lony, — occasioned partly, as they state, by the frequent 
resort of great numbers to the various branches of his 
majesty's service, partly by the deaths of the last cam- 
paign, and partly by the emigrations to provinces, 
where taxes were less onerous, — it was necessary to 
secure a voluntary enlistment of the new troops, by 
holding out the lure of a double bounty. Notwith- 
standing these embarrassments, the leaders of the 
British army were resolved to signalize the year 1759, 
by the complete conquest of all Canada. And, so as- 
sured were they of success, that they talked as if they 
were rather preparing to set out on a journey, than to 
enter upon a campaign. As soon as the St. Lawrence 
should be open in the spring, Brigadier-General Wolfe, 
escorted by a strong fleet, was to start from Louis- 
bourg, and lay siege to Quebec. Major-General 
Amherst, with the main army, was to march by the 
way of Crown Point, Ticonderoga, and Richelieu; 
descend the St. Lawrence; and form a junction with 



154 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. V, 

General Wolfe: while General Prideaux, with the 
third division, was to capture Fort Niagara; sail 
thence for Montreal; and, after taking that place, 
join the grand army before Quebec. Had the ele- 
ments been laid, and the enemy spell-bound, the 
whole of this brilliant plan could not have helped 
succeeding; but, as it was, only the one-third could 
ever be carried into execution. 

Early in the winter, General Amherst set about 
the preparations for his part of the enterprise: but it 
was not till the last of May, that his troops were as- 
sembled at Albany; and it was as late as the 22d of 
July, when he appeared before Ticonderoga. As the 
naval superiority of Great Britain had prevented 
France from sending out reinforcements, none of the 
posts in this quarter were enabled to withstand so 
great a force as that of General Amherst. Ticonde- 
roga was inunediately abandoned: Crown Point fol- 
lowed the example; and the only way, in which the 
enemy seemed to think of preserving their province, 
was, by retarding the English army, with shows of 
resistance, till the season of operation should be past; 
or till, by the gradual concentration of their forces, 
they should become nmnerous enough to make an 
effectual stand. From Crown Point, they retreated 
to Ile-aux-Noix; where, General Amherst under- 
stood, there was a body of between three and four 



CHAP. V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 155 

thousand men, and a fleet of several armed vessels. 
The English made great exertions to secure a naval 
superiority; and, had it not been for a succession of 
adverse storms upon the lake, they might, perhaps, 
have wintered in Quebec, instead of being obliged to 
go into quarters at Crown Point. 

General Prideaux embarked at Os^ ego, early in 
July; landed, soon after, within three miles of Nia- 
gara; and immediately commenced a formal investment 
of the fort. The garrison was reinforced by detach- 
ments from Detroit, Venango, and Presqulle. But, 
as the enemy placed considerable dependence upon 
some Indian auxiliaries, and w^ell knew, that savages 
are little calculated for sedentary warfare, it was de- 
termined to risk an immediate battle. On the morning 
of the 24th, the garrison marched out; were promptly 
met by a body of the English; and, being deserted by 
the Indians, were driven back to the fort, and obliged 
to capitulate. General Prideaux had been killed dur- 
ing the siege; and General Gage was sent to supply 
his place. But, for some undiscovered reason, — per- 
haps, because the Marquis de Vaudreuil lay in the 
vicinity of Montreal, with a reported army of five 
thousand men, — it was deemed inexpedient to at- 
tempt the farther prosecution of this part of the cam- 
paign. 

The least promising part of the whole scheme was. 



156 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. V. 

by far, the most successfully executed. Late in June, 
under convoy of Admirals Saunders and Holmes, 
G<meral Wolfe landed on the island of Orleans, a little 
below Quebec, with an army of eight thousand men, 
and a formidable train of artillery. He had now a 
fair opportunity to estimate the difficulties of his un- 
dertaking. The idea of reducing an extensive town, 
which Nature and Art seem to have vied in fortifying, 
and V hich, besides its permanent works, was defend- 
ed by armed vessels and floating batteries, in front, 
and by a pow^erful army, on what was reasonably pre- 
sumed to be the only vulnerable side, — could not but 
damp the ardour of even so bold and sanguine a leader 
as Wolfe. He could not think of attacking it on the 
south; for no eight thousand men could break through 
the fleet; overcome the fortifications on the beach; 
force their way up a high, perpendicular bank; and 
carry the strong forts and batteries, with which it was 
crowned. On the east, — besides the river St. Charles, 
which was filled with batteries, and had a strong boom 
across its mouth, — there was an army of about six or 
seven thousand men, commanded by the formidable 
Marquis de Montcalm. And the west and north were 
deemed impregnable, both from their artificial fortifi- 
cations, and from the high and steep precipice, which 
extended along the St. Lawrence. A few houses 
Were burned, by some batteries erected at Point Levi, 



CHAP. V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 157 

on the south side of the last mentioned river: but the 
distance was so great, that little injury could be done 
to the fortifications; and the only means, which then 
appeared, of reducing the town, was, by defeating 
Montcalm in a general action. The right wing of his 
army was upon the St. Charles; the left, upon the 
Montmorency; and the rear was covered by an almost 
impenetrable wood. After vainly exerting all his mi- 
litary skill, to seduce the marquis from this favourable 
position, General Wolfe resolved to use the more 
effectual and speedy method of attacking his entrench- 
ments. Thirteen companies of English grenadiers, 
with a part of the second battalion of royal Ameri- 
cans, were ordered to land at the mouth of the Mont- 
morency; while Generals Townshend and Murray, 
with two divisions more, should prepare to cross the 
river a little farther up. Wolfe, at first, imagined, 
that he might draw Montcalm from his entrench- 
ments, by assailing a detached and unprotected re- 
doubt, upon the water's edge: but, as that work was 
evacuated at his approach, and as some confusion was 
observed in the French camp, he determined to as- 
sault it, without further delay. Townshend and Mur- 
ray were directed to be ready for crossing the river; 
and the grenadiers and royal Americans were drawn 
up, on the beach, with orders to wait till the remain- 
ing brigades should be landed, for their support: but 



158 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. .V. 

disregarding the command, they rushed forward, at 
once, with the most eager impetuosity; — and were 
soon driven back, in disorder, by the dehberate and 
steady fire of the enemy. They were formed again, 
in the rear of the main army, which was now ad- 
vancing: but all further effort was fruitless: the ori- 
ginal plan of attack had been disconcerted; and the 
general saw the necessity of ordering a retreat. 

He now thought his great object might be attain- 
ed, in a shorter way, by destroying the French fleet, 
and by distracting the attention of Montcalm, with 
continual descents upon the northern shore. General 
Murray, with twelve hundred men, in transports, 
made two vigorous, but abortive, attempts to land; 
and, though more successful, in the third, he did no- 
thing more than to burn a magazine of warlike stores. 
The enemy's fleet was effectually secured against at- 
tacks, either by land, or by water; and the commander 
in chief was again obliged to submit to the mortifica- 
tion of recalling his troops. General Murray brought 
the intelligence of Amherst's and Prideaux's success; 
and Wolfe could not but compare his own disastrous 
efforts with their better fortunes. From his first ap- 
pearance before (Quebec, he had entertained but 
slight hopes of being able to reduce it: every subse- 
quent attempt had too faithfully realized his forebod- 
ings; and, now, as he could expect no assistance from 



CHAP. V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 159 

General Amherst, till the season of operation would be 
past, he seemed to be shut out from all prospect of suc- 
cess. His health began to be seriously affected: his sighs 
were deep and frequent; and he declared to his inti- 
mate friends, that he would not survive the infamy of 
discomfiture.* All rational hopes of a prosperous issue 
to the enterprize, were entirely at an end: but he was 
still upheld by a desperate consciousness, that some- 
thing must be done, not only to retrieve his own ho- 
nour, — but to satisfy the expectations of the British 
people, and to support the character of British arms. 
It still remained to be discovered, experimentally, 
whether the town might not be assailable on the west 
side. The camp at Orleans was abandoned; a part 
of the army transferred to Point Levi; and a part, to 
a station farther up the river. Montcalm was sensi- 
ble, that Quebec was by far the weakest on the two 
sides, that look into the country: yet it was evi- 
dently unsafe to relinquish his original position, while 
the St. Lawrence was commanded by his enemy; and 
the only prudent measure that seemed to be left, was^ 
to send a detachment of fifteen hundred men to watch 
the motions, and, if possible, to prevent the landing, of 
the English. 

Baffled and harassed, in all his previous assaults. 
General Wolfe seems to have determined to finish the 
enterprise, in one way or the other, by a single, bold 

"" See Note (.Tl. 



160 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. V. 

and desperate elfort. The admiral sailed several 
leagues up the river, making occasional demonstra- 
tions of a design to land troops; and, during the night, 
a strong detachment, in flat-bottomed boats, fell si- 
lently down, with the stream, to a point about a mile 
above the city. The beach was shelving; the bank, 
high and precipitous; and the only narrow path, by 
which it could be scaled, was now defended by a cap- 
tain's guard and a battery of four guns. Colonel 
Howe, with the van, soon clambered up the rocks; 
drove away the guard; and seized upon the battery. 
The army landed about an hour before day; and, by 
daybreak, was marshalled on the heights of Abraham. 
Montcalm could not, at first, believe the intelligence: 
but, as soon as he was assured of its truth, he made 
all prudent haste to decide a battle, which it was no 
longer possible to avoid. The right wing of the Eng- 
lish army was under General Ai^onkton; the left, under 
General Murray. The Louisbourg grenadiers covered 
the right flank; Howe's infantry, the rear and the left; 
and Webb's regiment, separated, by wide spaces, into 
eight subdivisions, was the corps of reserve. The 
movements of the enemy indicated a design to flank the 
left; and General Townshend was ordered to double 
that part of the line with Amherst's battalion, and the 
two battalions of Royal Americans. The centre of 
the French army was wholly composed of Europeans: 



CHAP. V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 161 

and the two wings, of Europeans and provincials. The 
French had two field pieces; and the English, one. 
The two commanders in chief were opposite to each 
other; Wolfe in the right, and Montcalm in the left, 
of their respective armies. 

The main body of the French was preceded by 
fifteen hundred militia and Indians; who annoyed the 
English with an incessant fire from behind the bushes. 
Montcalm led briskly to the charge: the English were 
ordered to reserve their fire, till he was within forty 
yards: almost every shot took effect; and the left and 
centre of the French soon began to waver and give 
way. Wolfe fell, as he was advancing at the head of 
his troops, with charged bayonets. Monckton, who 
took his place, soon shared his fate; and the command 
devolved upon General Townshend. He was called 
from the left, just as he had advanced a part of his 
troops to frustrate the enemy's intention of turning the 
flank. Colonel Howe had stationed two companies 
behind a copse, on the left; and, when the right wing 
of the French advanced against the English, he rushed 
unexpectedly upon their flank, and threw them into 
coafusion. It was at this moment that Townshend 
had completed the discomfiture of the enemy, by ad- 
vancing a body of his men. His first exertions, on the 
right, were to restore the line, which had been broken 
by too eager a pursuit; for, after having lost their first 

X 



i62 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. V. 

and second in command, the right and centre of the 
French were entirely driven from the field; and the 
left was following the example,— when Bougainville 
appeared in the rear, with the fifteen hundred men, 
who had been sent to oppose the landing of the Eng- 
hsh. Two battalions and two pieces of artillery were 
detached to meet him: but he retired; and the British 
troops were left the undisputed masters of the field. 
The loss of the French was much greater than that 
of the English. The corps of French regulars was 
almost entirely annihilated. The killed and wounded, 
together, of the English army, did not amount to six 
hundred men. 

But, amongst this number, was their heroic com- 
mander in chief. In the beginning of the action, 
Wolfe received a ball in the wrist: — he bound it 
up in his handkerchief; and continued to aid and 
animate his troops. A second ball struck him in the 
groin: — he paid no attention to it. A third passed 
through his breast; and he reluctantly permitted him- 
self to be carried into the rear. He was reclining 
his head upon the arm of one of his officers; when he 
was aroused by the distant sound of, 'They fly! they 
« fly!'—' Who fly?'— 'The French.'— 'Then I depart 
* content' — Nor did Montcalm die less heroically. 
He was told, that his wound was mortal; and that he 
could survive but a few hours. ' So much the better: 
*I shall Dot live to see the surrender of Q^uebec' The 



CHAP. V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 163 

expression was prophetic; for, although the town was 
still strongly defended by its fortifications, and might 
possibly be relieved by Bougainville, or from Mon- 
treal; yet General Townshend had scarcely finished 
a road in the bank, to get up his heavy artillery, for 
a siege; when the inhabitants capitulated, on condi- 
tion, that, during the war, they might still enjoy their 
own civil and religious rights. A garrison of five 
thousand men was left, under General Murray; and 
the fleet sailed out of the St. Lawrence. 

The English resolved to follow up their advan- 
tage; and the French were bent upon retrieving their 
loss. Chiefly by the exhortations and promises of the 
English minister, the colonial legislatures were in- 
duced to vote, for 1 760, the same number of forces as 
they had furnished this year; while M. de Levi, the 
successor of Montcalm, was devising a plan to recap- 
ture Q,uebec, before those forces could be brought 
into the scene of action. Relinquishing his first de- 
sign of carrying it by coup-de-main, he descended the 
St. Lawrence, in April, under the convoy of six fri- 
gates; and, taking a station near Sillery, on the west 
side of the town, prepared to commence the opera- 
tions of a siege. General Murray's troops had been 
reduced, by sickness, to three thousand effective men. 
The town was extensive; and the inhabitants were 
secretly hostile. So few troops could not well sustain 



164 THE UNITED STATES (;HAP. V 

a siege, under such circumstances: a battle under the 
walls, might defeat the enemy at once; and, even if 
the attempt should fail, the town might still be regained 
and defended. General Murray led to the attack, 
with confidence and impetuosity: the enemy received 
him with firmness; and, soon finding his men in dan- 
ger of being outflanked and enclosed, he was obliged 
to throw himself upon his last alternative. M. de 
Levi opened his trenches, that very evening: but it 
was a fortnight before he could bring up his heavy 
artillery; and, in the mean time, he was alarmed to 
observe, that the industry of General Murray had 
mounted a train of guns, still more formidable than 
his own. The appearance of a British fleet completed 
his dismay: he raised the siege; and hastily retreated 
to Montreal. 

The Marquis de Vaudreuil called in all his de- 
tachments; and seemed determined, if possible, to 
make a final stand against the further progress of the 
English, The English, on the other hand, were re- 
solved upon the utter annihilation of the French power 
in Canada; and, rejecting the more gallant policy of 
endeavouring to sweep it away, by nearly an equality 
of force. General ximherst prepared to overwhelm it 
with a superiority of numbers. Almost on the same 
day, the armies from Q,iiebec, from Lake Ontario, 
and from Lake Champlain, were concentred before 



CHAP. V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 16o 

Montreal: a capitulation was immediately signed; and 
Detroit, Michilimackinac, — all New France, in a 
word, soon after, surrendered to the English. The 
French troops were to be carried home; and the Ca- 
nadians to retain their civil and religious privileges. 
Thus terminated a war, which was of the most serious 
importance, not only on account of the territory in 
dispute, — but from the unheard of cruelties, which the 
savages, on each side, were mutually excited to per- 
petrate. The French began by endeavouring to 
surround the English colonists; and chain them to 
a narrow strip of country along the Atlantic. They 
ended with giving up every acre of what was then 
the only important territory in North America. 

France had been equally unsuccessful on both 
continents; and, exhausted by her strenuous and con- 
tinued efforts to merit better fortune, she was, at 
length, induced to make overtures of peace; and to 
propose, as the basis of negotiation, the principle, so 
favourable to Great Britain, — that (idi possidetis) 
each party should retain whatever it had conquered. 
England could not help consenting to a treaty upon 
such grounds; and negotiations were opened both at 
London and at Paris. No material differences occur- 
red; and every thing seemed to be in a fair train of 
adjustment, — when the treaty was suddenly broken 
off, by an anomalous attempt of the court of Ver- 



166 THE UNITED StATES CHAP. V. 

sailles, to mingle the politics of Spain and of Germany 
with the disputes between France and Great Britain. 
A secret family compact between the Bourbons, to 
support each other through evil and good, in peace 
and in war, had rendered France unsolicitous of 
peace, and Spain very desirous of war. The for- 
mer contrived to arrest the progress of a negotia- 
tion, which she had commenced under such hu- 
miliating auspices; and the latter assumed a tone 
of insolence, which ill accorded with her submissive 
and impotent neutrality, through all the previous 
stages of the war. As the interests of the two nations 
were now identified, it only remained for England to 
make a formal declaration of hostilities against Spain. 
It was done, on both sides, in 1761: and, as the colo- 
nies of New England were chiefly interested in the 
reduction of the West India Islands, they furnished 
a considerable body of troops to carry on the war. 
A large fleet was despatched from England: the land 
forces amounted, in all, to about sixteen thousand: and, 
before the end of the second year, Great Britain had 
taken the important city of Havanna, the key of the 
Mexican Gulf^ together with the French provinces 
of Martinique, Grenada, St. Lucia, St. Vincent, and 
the Caribbee Islands. Preliminary articles of peace 
were now signed at Paris. The Havanna was ex- 
changed for the Floridas: France ceded to Great 



CHAP. V. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 167 

Britain, all the conquests, which the latter had made, 
in North America: and it was stipulated, between the 
two crowns, that the boundary-line of their respective 
dominions, in the new hemisphere, should run along 
the middle of the Mississippi, from its source as far 
as the Iberville; and along the middle of that river, 
and of Lakes Maurepas and Pontchartrain. 



168' THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VI. 



CHAPTER VI. 

Indian Wars- — Rupture with the Cherokees — Conduct of Go- 
vernor Littleton — Expedition to Fort Prince George — 
Treaty of Peace — Small Pox in the Army — Reception of 
Governor Littleton — Infraction of the Treaty by the Indians 
— Murder of the Hostages, and Massacre of the Frontier 
Settlers — Indian mode of Warfare — Expedition of Colonel 
Montgomery — Battle of Etchoe — Retreat of the Army- 
Surrender of Fort Loudoun — Colonel Grant's Expedition — 
Second Battle of Etchoe — Barbarities of the Army — Peace 
with the Chci'okees — War with the Western Indians' — 
Capture of the Frontier Posts — ^Battle of Detroit — Expedi- 
tion of Colonel Bouquet — Battle near Turtle Creek — De- 
feat of the Indians — Peace. 

The colonists had scarcely done rejoicing at the 
peace with France, when they were involved in new 
wars with the Indians. A party of the Cherokees 
had assisted in the reduction of Fort Dii Q,uesne; and, 
having lost several of their horses, thought it no wrong 
to replace them with such others as they found run- 
ning at large in the woods. The Virginians had, 
throughout the expedition, treated them with the most 
haughty contempt; and, glad of an opportunity to vent 
their hatred of the whole race, they fell upon the un- 
suspecting warriors; murdered some, and made pri- 
soners of others. The frontier settlers soon felt the 



CHAP. VI. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 169 

impolicy of this outrage. The whole nation of Che- 
rokees was in arms. Fort Loudoun, which had been 
established among them, at their own request, was 
SQon invested on all sides; and perhaps the manes of 
twelve or fourteen Indians were not appeased by the 
sacrifice of less than ten times the number of whites. 

Governor I^ittleton, of South Carolina, immedi- 
ately despatched orders for calling out the militia; 
and, with such troops as were at hand, prepared to 
march into the enemy's country. But the vengeance 
of the Cherokees seems now to have been glutted; 
and they sent thirty chiefs to negotiate a treaty. Go- 
vernor Littleton received them with an insolent 
speech; and, when Ouconnostota was beginning to 
reply, commanded him to be silent. Determined upon 
war, he feared, his purpose would be shaken by a talk 
of peace; and, under the pretext of conveying the 
chiefs safely back to their own people, he thrust them 
into the rear of his army; put them under a captain's 
guard; and, when arrived at Fort Prince George, shut 
the whole thirty in a cabin, which could not conveni* 
ently hold seven. 

Though he had about fourteen hundred men, he 
now found them so raw and ill appointed, that he 
could not hope for a brilliant campaign ; and, intend- 
ing to make up the quarrel in a more amicable man- 
ner, he was afraid, his overtures might be refused, or 

y 



170 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VI. 

the negotiation impeded, by suffering tlie Indians to 
communicate with the chiefs, whom they had deputed 
as peace-makers. He sent for Attakullakulla, or 
Little Carpenter, the principal sachem of the tribe, 
who was an old friend of the English; and who, though 
fervently devoted to the interests of his own people, 
did not always think, that those interests were pro- 
moted by war. He readily obeyed the summons; and, 
having just returned, with captives, from an inroad 
upon the French, supposed, that one of them might 
be an acceptable present to the governor. Mr. Lit- 
tleton returned him a long and vainglorious harangue; 
talking of victories, which had never been gained; 
boasting of strength, which he did not possess; and 
fulminating menaces, which could never be executed. 
Attakullakulla was an old warrior; and he had little 
hopes of making peace with a man, w^ho seemed more 
inchned to deliver speeches, than enter upon a treaty; 
and who had come with a prepossession, that all was 
right on one side, and all wrong on the other. 

He told the governor, that the cause of the war 
was the ill treatment of the Virginians; that, as he 
always had been, so he wished to continue, a friend 
of the English; and that, though his terms of peace 
were extravagantly unreasonable, something might 
possibly be done, if he would release a few of thirty 
chiefs, whom he had confined. Ouconnostota and 



OHAP. VI. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 171 

two others were accordingly set free; but, as if Mr. 
Littleton was afraid, he had compromitted his self- 
consistency, by doing an act of justice, he ordered two 
Cherokees, who were delivered up next day, to be 
put immediately in irons. A sight like this dispersed 
the tribe in a moment; and even the Little Carpenter^ 
who would have made peace upon almost any terms, 
now retired in despair, and was determined to let the 
mischief take its own course. The governor repented; 
and again sent for Attakullakulla. All his talk was now 
of peace; and, on the 26th of December, 1760, the 
treaty was concluded on these terms: — that twenty of 
the chiefs, already in prison, shoidd be retained, until 
an equal number of the Indian murderers should be 
surrendered; that there should be a free trade, as had 
been usual; that the Cherokees should hold no com- 
munion with the enemies of Great Britain; and that 
they should take, or kill, every Frenchman^ who might 
come among them. 

As if to curse this unequal treaty, it was scarcely 
finished, when a small-pox broke out in the governor's 
army. The surgeons had not provided for such a 
disease: the men, struck with a panic, avoided all 
contact with one another; and, each taking his sepa- 
rate route for home, all suifered exceedingly by hunger 
and fatigue. Late in the evening of January 5th, 
1760, the governor returned to Charleston; and^ 



ITS THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VI. 

though a musket had not been fired, nor a treaty made, 
upon which any rehance could be placed, he was 
considered as a conqueror, and hailed with addresses, 
illuminations, and bonfires. 

But the joy of the Carolinians was as transient as 
it was ill-timed. Tlie harangues of the Little Car- 
penter, in favour of peace, had destroyed his influence 
among the Cherokees, Ouconnostota now took the 
lead; and, still smarting with the indignities of Gover- 
nor Littleton's treatment, he killed the first fourteen 
men, whom he encountered, and, on the 2d of Febru- 
ary, surrounded Fort Prince George. As a regular 
siege was not among the tactics of his countrymen, 
"he attempted the reduction of the fort by one of those 
perfidious tricks, which are so high in the list of sa- 
vage wisdom and virtue. On the 16th of February, 
two Indian women, well known in the fort, were sent 
on the other side of the river to decoy the garrison. 
Lieutenant Dougherty was the first to fall into the 
snare. While he stood talking with the women, Oucon- 
nostota came up; and, pretending to have something 
©f importance to communicate, desired, that he would 
call out the commanding officer. Captain Cotymore, 
with his ensign and interpreter, were as easily caught 
as Lieutenant Dougherty. The chief told him, that 
he was going to Charleston, and wanted a white man 
as his safe-guard. The captain readily granted hi« 



CHAP. VI. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 173 

request: Oiiconnostota said he would go and catch a 
horse; and, swinging a bridle over his head, a volley 
of thirty muskets was poured upon Cotymore and his 
attendants. He received a mortal wound, in the left 
breast; and the ensign and interpreter were both shot 
in different parts of the leg. Orders were immediately 
given to put the hostages in irons: one soldier was 
killed, and another wounded, in the attempt; and the 
exasperated garrison fell upon the chiefs and de- 
spatched them at once. The Indians attempted to 
carry the fort by storm ; and, being mortified with a 
defeat here, they turned against the defenceless fron- 
tiers, and spared no living thing, whose skin was 
white. 

It is not one of the least horrors of savage warfare, 
that you can never tell where to find your enemy. 
Indians seldom march in a body; never remain long 
jn a place; and entirely differ from us, in their notions 
of topographical advantage. The chiefs designate 
some point of rendezvous: the tribe is divided into 
parties often or a dozen; and, each party setting out 
upon the run, and in a different route, they all appear 
upon the spot, at nearly the same instant. Having 
finished their work here, another place is appointed; 
and it is utterly impossible to watch their movements, 
or to trace their operations. 

This mode of warfare was now practised, most 



174 THE UNITED bTATES CHAP. VL 

effectually, upon the inhabitants of South Carolina. 
The frontiers were soon rendered entirely desolate: 
the colonists found it impossible to protect themselves; 
and, General Amherst being urgently solicited to lend 
them assistance, Colonel Montgomery was, at length, 
despatched with twelve hundred chosen men. Go- 
vernor Bull, who superseded Mr. Littleton, made every 
exertion to ensure the success of their arms. Several 
companies of gentlemen volunteered for the service: 
North Carolina and Virginia furnished a corps of 
rangers; and, in the beginning of June, 1760, the 
united forces commenced their march for Twelve 
Mile River. The Indians saw, that little impression 
could be made upon so large a body; and, excepting 
one or two slight skirmishes, the provincials found no 
opposition in laying waste the lower settlements. 

Colonel Montgomery next marched to the relief 
of Fort Prince George; and, imagining, that he had 
now convinced the savages of the folly of continuing 
the war, he invited them, by message, to come and 
treat of peace. But he was still to learn another trait 
in the Indian character. They had suffered his fine 
troops to riot upon their lower settlements: the middle 
and upper were yet to be overcome; and, before that 
could be accomplished, the Indians knew, that the 
provincials would be exhausted, and separated from 
their supplies, while they would be augmenting their 



CHAP. VI. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 175 

luinibers, and recruiting their strength. They smiled 
at the offer of peace; and, on the 23d of June, Colonel 
Montgomery set off, to repeat his chastisement. 

It seemed as if a new race of people had sprung 
up. The bloody tomahawk had gone over the hills: 
the Cherokees flocked to the scene of action; and the 
troops could scarcely advance a step, which was not 
disputed. The Indians watched all their movements; 
took advantage of every exposure; and, when they had 
nearly reached Etchoe, between eight and nine, in the 
morning of the 21th, the yells of five hundred savages 
forbade them to proceed. The next salutation was a 
furious attack upon all sides. Colonel Montgomery 
immediately marshalled his troops; who received the 
shock with much firmness; and, though fatigued witli 
difficult marches, maintained a spirited fire for nearly 
five hours. At length, the Royal Scots w^ere suddenly 
brought into the thickest part of the battle; and, be- 
cause the Indians gave way, it was supposed, they were 
defeated. The army marched into Etchoe; but their 
piquets were again attacked with augmented fierce- 
ness; and, though the Indians were repulsed, it is 
hardly consistent with Colonel Montgomery's claim to 
the victory, in all these actions, that he now ordered 
a retreat. 

His troops reached Fort Prince George on the 1st 
®f July; and, as he had been ordered to strike a sudden 



176 THE UNITED STATES CHA]^. VL 

blow, and return to join the expedition against Canada, 
he inniiediately led them to Charleston, and prepared 
to embark for the north. All the entreaties of the in- 
habitants could not persuade him to leave but one 
hundred men; and, while the province, having already 
expended fifty thousand pounds sterhng, was now less 
able, than before, to defend itself, the only effect of 
his enterprise, had been, to increase the exasperation 
of the savages. More than a month before his depar- 
ture. Fort Loudoun had been invested; and the gar- 
rison reduced to the daily allowance of one pint of 
meal and two ounces of spoiled meat. It was now 
left completely defenceless; and, on the 7th of August, 
the commander surrendered. The Indians promised 
to spare their lives; but, out of one hundred and 
eighty men, only twenty-six escaped with the privilege 
of being the last destroyed. 

The Carolinians continued to send their groans 
to General Amherst; and, in the beginning of 1761, 
when the conquest of Canada had disengaged his 
troops, he despatched Lieutenant-Colonel Grant with 
about two thousand men. The Carolinians added a 
new regiment: some Chikesaws and Catawbas were 
enlisted; and, early in May, the whole force, consisting 
of about twenty-six hundred men, proceeded to Prince 
George. The Little Carpenter once more attempted 
to make peace; but Colonel Grant would listen to 



tfHAP. VI. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 177 

none of his proposals; and, sending forward a scouting 
party of Indians, and men painted like Indians, he 
commenced his advance into the interior. For three 
days, he made forced marches; but, on the fourth, he 
began to draw near the spot, where his predecessor 
had boasted of gaining a victory; and it was deemed 
advisable to proceed with more caution, and be pre- 
pared for battle. 

About eight in the morning of the 10th of June, 
these precautions were justified by a simultaneous at- 
tack from the thickets in every quarter. The army 
received it without wavering; and, as the Indians sel- 
dom stood before a charge, they often imagined, that 
the day was their own. But, before eleven o'clock, 
when the action ceased, they learned, that an Indian 
is not beaten, because he runs. Driven from the front, 
they attacked the enemy in the rear: conquered on the 
right, they started up, on the left: chased from the 
heights, they were ready for battle on the low grounds: 
and, though a superiority of numbers, at length, com- 
pelled them to leave the field, they kept up a scattering 
fire until two in the afternoon. 

Etchoe was burnt the next day: the thirteen 
remaining villages of the middle settlements soon 
shared the same fate; and, after spending thirty days 
in butchery and devastation, the army returned to 
Fort Prince George. It might be the part of a 

55 



17S tHE UNITED STATES CHAP. VI. 

historian, who sets patriotism above truth, to draw a 
veil over the barbarities committed in this war. The 
army followed the lesson taught by their enemies; 
and, in some instances, even bettered the instruction. 
All sorts of stratagem were considered as lawful. The 
assembly seemed to think, that a savage war should 
be conducted in a savage manner; and, finding that 
twenty-five pounds were not not enough for Cherokee 
scalps, they offered thir-ty-iive,* 

Perhaps the Indians had calculated upon more 
lenient treatment: or, at any rate, the Little Carpen- 
ter and the other leading chiefs now begged, most 
sincerely, for peace. A treaty was drawn up; and they 
readily acceded to all the articles, except one; which 
stipulated, that either four Cherokees should be put 
to death in the face of the army, or four green scalps 
produced within two nights. Application was made 
to Governor Bull; who, after a speech from the Little 
Carpenter, had the humanity to release so unreason- 
able a demand. A fire was then kindled; the pipe of 
peace lighted; and, after smoking together in silence, 
both parties wisJied, that the peace might last as long 
as the sun should shine, or the rivers flow. 

But the pipe of the south had scarcely been lighted, 
when that of the north was extinguished. In a con- 
ference between several American governors and the 
Six Nations, soon after the peace of 1761, a warm 

* See Note (K). 



CHAP. VI, BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 179 

dispute arose concerning certain lands, which, the 
Indians asserted, had been seized by some English 
settlers, under a fraudulent conveyance. Population, 
loo, augmented so rapidly during peace, that the co- 
lonists overran their prescribed limits; and, as a chain 
of forts had been constructed around the most import- 
ant hunting lands of the Indians, they perceived, that 
the English, by fate, or by design, were about to extir- 
pate them, and take possession of their territory. 
The Shawanese, Delawares, the tribes along the 
Ohio, this side of the Mississippi, and about Detroit^ 
concerted a plan, in 1763, to attack, at one and the 
same time, all the English posts and settlements in 
their neighbourhood. Harvest was the time agreed 
upon; and, so effectually was the design concealed, 
that the first notice was in the yells of the Indians. 
The settlers were surprised at work in the field; their 
crops devastated, and their houses burnt. The In- 
dians made themselves masters of forts Le Boeuf, 
Venango, Presqu'Ile, and Michilimackinack; and at- 
tempted to reduce Pitt, Detroit, and Niagara. 

General Amherst immediately detached strong 
reinforcements to the three latter forts. The one 
destined for Detroit, was put under tlie command of 
Captain Dalyell; who was so httle acquainted with 
Indians, as to imagine, that he might take them by 
surprise, and at once relieve the fort from further 



180 THE UNITED STATED CHAP. VI. 

annoyance. About two o'clock in the morning, he 
started from the fort, with two hundred and seventy 
men; and, while he supposed he was advancing en- 
tirely unobserved, received a fire in his front; and, 
before his men had recovered the shock, another in 
tlie rear, and, inunodiately after, one on each flank. 
He fell; and the command devolved upon Captain 
Grant; who extricated himself by a resolute charge, 
and was enabled to make his way back to the fort. 
The Indians knew, that the garrison was now strong 
and well supplied; and, as they could not endure a 
protracted siege, the enterprise was abandoned. 

The reinforcement for Fort Pitt was entrusted 
to Colonel Bouquet; who started about the end of 
July, with a large quantity of provisions and mili- 
tary stores. Like Captain Daly ell, he fancied it 
possible to elude the observation of the enemy; and, 
the more eftectually to secure his purpose, he resolved 
to pass the defile of Turtle Creek, in the night. On the 
5th of August, his men had marched seventeen miles, 
over a rough and mountainous country; and were 
just preparing to rest and refresh themselves, — when 
a sudden yell and fire, in front, announced the pre- 
sence of the savages, and threw the army again upon 
their legs. A vigorous charge drove back the In- 
dians; but it was only to lead the troops into an am- 
buscade; and, whatever might be the glory of the 



CHAP. VI. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 181 

conquest, they were satisfied to regain their former 
position. Similar charges were made in every direc- 
tion; but the troops seemed only to beat the air, or 
fight an invisible enemy. The Indians gave vva) in 
one place, merely to fall on, in another; and what 
would have been defeat to others, was victory to them. 
The action was continued from one in the afternoon 
till evening; and, though the troops were successful in 
every attack, they gained nothing in the end. 

The men slept little during the night; and, on the 
first dawn of morning, the Indians aroused them with 
the whoop of battle, and the roar of their guns. The 
taste of blood seemed to have given them new fero- 
city; and even the English themselves, exhausted as 
they were, recommenced the action with additional 
vigour, — some stimulated by the hopes of revenge, 
and others, by a spirit of desperation. The Indians 
were regularly driven at the point of the bayonet; and 
as regularly turned upon their pursuers, as soon as 
the chase was over. These efforts were repeated, till 
the men became hopeless: they saw their strength 
thrown away, and their courage exerted in vain; and 
they stood, remembering the fate of Braddock, and, 
perhaps, trembling at their own, — when Colonel Bou- 
quet, availing himself of his dear-bought experience, 
i'esolved to fight the Indians in their own way. 

The army was encamped in a circle. Two com- 



'iS2 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VI. 

panies, which had been posted without the circumfe- 
rence, were ordered to retire within ; the two ends of 
the broken circle to close up, in their rear ; and, after 
making a show of resistance, to give way and retreat. 
The two first companies, at the same time, were 
joined by one company of grenadiers, and another of 
light infantry. The thin ranks gave ground, accord- 
ing to orders: the Indians followed with headlong 
impetuosity; and, supposing themselves masters of the 
field, began what they meant for a slaughter, rather 
than an action. Two of the companies, already men- 
tioned, made a sudden turn upon their flank; while 
the remaining two attacked them in front. For a 
moment, they were not undeceived; and returned 
the fire with activity and resolution. But a short time 
served to convince them of their mistake: they be- 
took themselves to their swiftness of foot; and the 
four companies pursued them so closely, that they 
never looked behind, until they got beyond the pro- 
bability of annoyance. But this conquest was, in 
truth, a defeat. The great object of the expedition, 
was, to supply Fort Pitt with stores; and, so many of 
the pack-horses were killed in these several engage- 
ments, that Colonel Bouquet was obliged to destroy 
the greatest part of the provisions. The army ad- 
vanced about two miles; pitched their tents; and 
imagined, that they might take some rest. Scarcely 



eilAP. VI. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 183 

had they finished their preparations, when the Indians 
again made their appearance. They seemed not to 
be yet certain, that they were the weakest; but a few 
discharges completed their conviction; and, for the 
four remaining days, they suffered the troops to march 
unmolested. 

Having succeeded so ill against Forts Detroit and 
Pitt, the Indians now concentrated their forces, for an 
attack upon Niagara. Their object was to isolate the 
fort, and intercept its reinforcements and supplies. 
On the 14th of September, 1764, they annihilated a 
convoy, which was marching to its relief; and, not 
long after, made an unsuccessful attack, in canoes, 
upon a schooner, which was carrying provisions to 
Detroit. All the northern colonies were called upon 
to contribute their quotas of men, for the prosecution 
of the war; and, among the rest, Connecticut raised 
a battalion, and put it under the command of Colonel 
Israel Putnam.* Strengthened by these reinforce- 
ments. Colonels Bouquet and Bradstreet harassed the 
Indians during the spring and summer of 1765; and. 
in September, they were willing to bury the hatchet 
and conclude a peace. 

• See Note (L). 



184 THE UNITED STATES CHAP, VIT. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Seeds of the Revolution — Assertion and Denial of the Right to 
tax the Colonies — Passage of the Stamp-Act' — Congress 
at New York. — Associations against the Stamp-Act — The 
Repeal^ — Tax on Tea, Glass, and Painters' Colours — Spirit 
of Massachusetts — Mob at Boston— Convention at Fenuil 
Hall — Affray with the Soldiery — Non-Importation Associ- 
ations — Insurrection in North Carolina — Corresponding 
Committees — Hutchinson and Oliver's Letters — Dr. Frank- 
lin — Results of the Stamp-Tax and Duty on Tea — Plan to 
test the Resolution of the Colonists — The Tea emptied into 
Boston Harbour — Boston Port-Bill, 8cc.— Resolution of the 
Colonies to support Boston — Day of Humiliation and Prayer 
throughout the Continent — Governor Gage — Proposition 
for a general Congress — Proceedings of the Massachusetts 
Legislature — Congress at Philadelphia — Unanimity of the 
Colonists — Alarms — Obstinacy of the Bostonians — New 
Alarms — Proceedings of Parliament — Attempt to divide 
the Colonies-— Battle of Lexington. 

As far back as the year 1692, the general court of 
Massacliusetts had formally denied the right of par- 
liament, to impose any tax whatever upon that colony. 
New York, soon after, followed the example; and, 
though the southern colonies made no express deter- 
mination on the subject, their language uniformly 
implied a recognition of the same principles. Parlia- 
ment, on the other hand, seems never to have had the 
least doubt, that its supremacy extended to the enact- 



tHAP. VII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 185 

meiit of laws, which should bind the colonies in all 
cases whatsoever. So early as 1 739, a knot of Ame- 
rican merchants recommended a scheme of provincial 
taxation: but it was not until 1754, that the subject 
attracted the serious attention of the ministers; and, 
even then, the known disposition of the colonists, and 
the necessity of their friendship and co-operation in 
the approaching war, were sufficient to postpone, for 
the present, the adoption of a measure, which would, 
at all times, be of questionable policy. Ten years 
afterwards, however, when tliese objections were, in 
a great measure, removed, and when the unexampled 
expenses of the war called for extraordinary sources 
of revenue, — there could be no danger, it was thought, 
in passing a bill, which, without startling the colonists 
with its immediate execution, should merely suggest 
the propriety of laying certain stamp-duties upon them. 
But the ministry were greatly deceived, if they sup- 
posed, the Americans would not awake, at such a step 
towards the infringement of their rights. A cry was 
universally raised against the measure; and, though 
the colonists had quietly submitted to commercial 
duties, imposed by the mother country; yet there was 
a distinction, they began to assert, between external 
and internal duties, — between taxes imposed for the 
general regulation of commerce, and those which were 
levied for the creation of revenue. They were suffi- 

A a 



186 THE UNITED STATES (JIIAP. VII. 

ciently acquainted with the Enghsh constitution, to 
know, that it required ' taxation and representation' 
to go hand in hand; and they appealed to the original 
principles of free government, against the assumed 
right of taking away their property without their con- 
sent. It was the fruitful theme of all conversations; 
and the source of endless petitions and memorials. 
All tliis, however, was of no avail against the neces- 
sities of the state. The exertions of the provinces, 
during the last war, had given the mother country 
an extravagant idea of their wealth; though they had 
failed to lessen her contempt of their power. The 
remonstrances of the colonial agents were given to 
the wind; and, in 1765, the stamp-act passed, in the 
house of commons, with only one dissenting voice. 

The legislature of Virginia, which happened to be 
in session, when the news was received, immediately 
adopted a series of strong resolutions against the 
act; and the general court of Massachusetts soon 
after recommended a congress of deputies from all 
the colonies, to deliberate upon the best means of 
preventing the difficulties, to which they must be 
subjected, by such a preposterous system of taxation. 
New Hampshire alone dissented from the pi'oposal; 
and the legislatures of Virginia and North Carolina 
were not in session: but delegates from Massachu- 
setts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Penn- 



CHAP. VII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 187 

sylvania, the three lower counties of Delaware, 
Maryland, and South Carolina, assembled at New 
York, in October; and, choosing Mr. Thomas Rug- 
gles for their president,* immediately proceeded to 
draw up a declaration of the rights and grievances 
of the colonies. They voted a petition to the king; 
and recommended the appointment of special agents 
from all the colonies, to represent them in the mo- 
ther country. The people, in the mean time, were 
forming themselves into associations to abridge the 
consumption of English manufactures, and to elude 
the operation of the stamp-act. They resolved to kill 
no lambs; and to have all future law-suits decided by 
arbitration. Among the other societies, there was 
one formed in Connecticut and New York, under the 
title of the Sons of Liberty; who bound themselves to 
march, at their own expense, to any part of the con- 
tinent, for the single puipose of preventing the execu- 
tion of the stamp-act. There were many still more 
riotous meetings; and, especially in the large towns, 
the populace grossly abused many of the inhabitants, 
and destroyed a good deal of property. 

The stamp-act was repealed, in 1766; — not, how- 
ever, on account of the opposition, which it met with, 
in America; but because the government had recently 
fallen into the hands of those, who were originally 
opposed to the measure. The intelligence was re- 

* See Note (M). 



188 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VH. 

ceived with great joj^ in all the colonies; and the 
burgesses of Virginia, in particular, voted a statue to 
his majesty. The reconciliation was not quite so 
complete in New York and Massachusetts; where the 
people had been more exasperated in consequence 
of some new duties imposed upon their commerce, as 
well as by the increased rigour with which the old 
laws had, of late, been executed. Nor did the Eng- 
lish ministry suffer any of the provinces to rejoice 
long in their good fortune. The chancellor of the 
exchequer boasted, in the house of commons, that he 
knew Miow to draw a revenue from the colonies, 
* without giving them offence;' and he accordingly 
proposed, — and to propose was to enact, — that cer- 
tain duties should be laid on tea, glass, and painters* 
colours. The first step of the Massachusetts legisla- 
ture, after receiving intelligence of this measure, 
shewed Mr. Townshend, that he knew, as little as 
his predecessors, how to draw a revenue from the 
Americans. An immediate resolution was taken, to 
oppose a parliamentary tax, in whatever shape it might 
appear; and not only was a petition voi;ed to the king, 
and letters despatched to the agent of the colony, and 
to nearly all the members of the administration, — but 
the other colonies were exhorted, in a circular ad- 
dress, to make a similar manifestation of their displea- 
sure. This, indeed, was done; though it is curious to 



0HAP. VIL BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 189 

remark, that, at this time, the colonists durst hardly 
whisper words, which, a few years after, they pro- 
nounced with such resolute emphasis. The general 
court of Massachusetts said, they had 'too much rea- 
'son to beheve, that the enemies of the colonies had 
' represented them to his majesty as having a disposi- 
^tion to become independent of the mother country.' 
And the Virginian legislature declared, that 'they did 
* not affect an indejjendency of their parent kingdom, 
*the prosperity of which they felt bound to promote: 
*but cheerfully acquiesced in the authority of parlia- 
' ment to make laws for preserving a necessary depen- 
^ deuce, and for regulating the trade of the colonies.' 

As soon as the news of these proceedings reached 
the ears of Lord Hillsborough, the secretary of state 
jbr the colonies, he called upon all the provincial as- 
semblies to avoid any co-operation in the factious mea- 
sures of Massachusetts; and, at the same time, required 
the latter colony, in his majesty's name, to rescind the 
restrictions, which gave birth to its circular address. 
These requisitions, instead of conciliating the obedi- 
ence of the colonies, merely served to confirm their 
opposition. Massachusetts, indeed, became doubly 
malcontent; and, though the general court still con- 
tinued to ' rely on the royal clemency,' and to express 
their devotion to 'their gracious sovereign:' yet they 
did not fail to assert, very unequivocally, that the^ 



i90 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. Vil. 

should neither rescind the resolutions they had taken; 
nor submit to be taxed by a legislature three thou- 
sand miles off. 

The people, or rather, the populace, of Boston, 
were, in the mean time, expressing their sentiments 
in a more practical manner. A sloop, with the omi- 
nous name of Liberty^ had been cut away from Mr. 
Hancock's wharf, by the officers of the customs; 
and detained, several days, without the least warrant 
of legal proceedings. The irritated inhabitants im- 
mediately gathered into a mob; beat the officers and 
tlieir assistants; 'patrolled the streets in a tumultuous 
manner,' to use the words of their own Justificatory 
Memorial; ' broke several windows to the value of 
^ about five pounds; burnt,' in triumph, 'a pleasure 
'boat belonging to the collector; and then dispersed 
' at about eleven o'clock at night.' The legislature 
secretly rejoiced at this manifestation of feelings so 
congenial with their own; but, as appearances must 
be saved, they openly declared their utter abhorrence 
of the affray; and set about the detection and pu- 
nishment of the offenders, by passing many wise and 
vigorous resolutions; — which were never executed. 

Governor Bernard dissolved the general court, in 
the hope, that the ferment of the interior would 
subside, as soon as it ceased to be stirred up, by 
a convention of the popular leaders; and, to keep 
imder the rebellious spirit of Boston, he sent to Ge- 



CHAP. VII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 191 

neral Gage, at New York, for two regiments of men. 
As soon as intelligence of this design exuded, the 
inhabitants held a town-meeting; and appointed a 
committee to wait upon the governor, and to request, 
that he would summon another general court. He 
refused his compliance; and they proceeded to resolve, 
among other things, that, as, ' in the minds of many,' 
there was an ' apprehension' of an ' approaching war 
"^with France,' every householder should be required 
to furnish himself with a complete stand of arms; and 
that, to supply the place of the ordinary legislature, 
the inhabitants of the several other towns should be 
invited to join them in sending delegates to a conven- 
tion in Fenuil Hall. The plan succeeded. The 
convention met; gave their opinion upon the various 
subjects of complaint; addressed a letter to the agent 
in England; and, after disclaiming all pretensions to 
legislative authority, broke up the meeting and re- 
turned home. The day previous to its dissolution, 
the two regiments, which had been sent for, arrived 
in Nantasket Road. It was supposed, that the more 
violent part of the inhabitants would strenuously at- 
tempt to oppose their landing; and the ships of war 
were accordingly moored, with their broadsides to the 
town, and with springs upon their cables. The troops 
began to debark at one o'clock. They marched 
through the town with fixed bayonets; and, as the 



19;3 THE UNITED StATES CHAP. VIL 

select council had refused to furnish quarters, they 
increased the exasperation of the people, by taking 
possession of their senate-house. The wants of the 
colony, soon after, necessitated the governor to call a 
general court; and the first act of the session, was, to 
draw up a strong remonstrance against the military 
investment of the metropolis, — and more especially, 
against an extraordinary attempt to influence the deli- 
berations of the legislature, by stationing a guard 
before the house, with cannon pointed at the door. 
The governor thought the assembly would be more 
tractable, if removed from the pestilent atmosphere 
of Boston: it wag adjourned to Cambridge; but the 
deputies soon became so much more obstinate than 
before, that he was obliged to prorogue them alto- 
gether. 

Nor did the adjournment to Cambridge have any 
better effect upon the Bostonians; who, after remon- 
strating, in vain, against being challenged in the street, 
and being disturbed, by drums, on the Sabbath, con- 
trived, it is said, to bring the matter to a crisis, by pro- 
voking a quarrel with the soldiery. Four of the inha- 
bitants were killed; and, the fact being soon known in 
every part of the town, the bells were rung: drums beat 
to arms; and nothing but the presence and the pro- 
mises of the heutenant-governor could have prevented 
SD great a multitude, as soon collected, from rushing. 



CHAP. VII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 193 

naked, as it were, upon the bayonets of the obnoxious 
twenty-ninth regiment. He prevailed upon the inha- 
bitants to disperse; but it was only to address the lieu- 
tenant-governor upon the dangerous impropriety of 
suffering the soldiers to remain any longer in the town. 
He expressed his great sorrow at the whole occur- 
rence; and told them, he had taken measures to have 
it investigated. They voted, that the answer was 
unsatisfactory: and a second deputation induced the 
council to resolve, that the good of his majesty's ser- 
vice, and the tranquillity of the province, demanded 
the immediate removal of the troops. They were, 
accordingly, removed. The provincials were not ac- 
tuated by a blind spirit of animosity; nor did they for- 
get, in the hour of triumph, to give others the benefit 
of those equal laws, which they were determined to 
secure for themselves. Captain Preston, who sallied 
from the barracks, on this occasion, was defended by 
Boston lawyers, and cleared by a Boston jury; and, 
of the eight soldiers, who had been committed to 
prison, only two were found guilty; and that, not of 
murder, but of manslaughter. 

During these transactions, the king, of course, 
had, at every session, some new information to lay 
before parliament, respecting the disloyal spirit of 
America; nor was it long before a joint resolution of 
the two houses, not only reproved this spirit, in the most 

Bb 



194 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VH 

solemn manner; but sent over for an account of ali 
the treasons, and of all the traitors, that had distin- 
guished Massachusetts, since 1767. The legislature 
of Virginia answered this resolution, by strenuously 
asserting her right to impose her own taxes, and to 
try her own people; and, when the governor abruptly 
dissolved the session, the members got together, in a 
private house, and passed several patriotic resolves, — 
which were promptly adopted by their constituents, — - 
against the further importation of British merchandize. 
JS'on-imporiing ^Associations were set on foot in 
Massachusetts, as early as May, 1768; and, though, 
from the refused concurrence of some large trading 
towns, in the other colonies, the measure was then 
laid aside, the merchants of Boston took it up again, 
in the following August; and resolved generally, that, 
from January, 1769, they would not, for one year^ 
import, from England, any articles but those of the 
first necessity; and that they would never import tea, 
glass, paper, and painters' colours, until the duties on 
them should be taken off. The members of the Vir- 
ginia legislature sent copies of their proceedings to all 
the other colonial assemblies. Those of Maryland 
and the Carolinas soon followed the example; and^ 
though Georgia, Rhode Island, and New Hampshire 
were, at first, considerably reluctant at imposing on 
themselves such a system of sell-denial, a threatened 



CHAP. VII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 195 

discontinuance of intercourse with their sister pro- 
vinces, induced them to adopt, at length, a similar 
measure of non-importation. For some time these re- 
solutions were kept with the utmost zeal and rigour. 
Committees of superintendance were appointed: those, 
who did not enter into the agreement, had votes of cen- 
sure passed upon them: those, who violated it, were 
exposed, by name, in the newspapers; and, not only 
were proscribed goods locked up in the warehouses,— 
but, in some instances, even sent back to England. 
It was impossible, however, that such a system should 
long maintain its inviolability. The superintendant 
committees were accused of partiality : the different 
sea-port towns mutually charged each other with 
extensive infractions of the agreement; and, when we 
add to these suspicions and jealousies, the inconveni- 
ence and mortification of going without those articles, 
which, though, perhaps, superfluous, in reality, had 
yet been rendered necessary, by custom, — together 
with the apparent spirit of conciliation, with which 
the Duke of Grafton commenced his administration, 
by proposing to take off all colonial duties, except 
those upon the single article of tea, — we cannot won- 
der, that New York and Rhode Island pretty soon 
came to a determination of importing, as usual, such 
goods as were free of duty; and that the other colonies 
were not very tardy in following an example, which. 



196 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VII. 

while it saved them the infamy of desertion, released 
them from a most uncomfortable mode of taking re- 
venge upon England. 

Throughout the middle and southern colonies, 
indeed, the spirit of disaffection had, in a great mea- 
sure, subsided, ii^ 1770. They still adhered, in name 
at least, to their measures for preventing the importa- 
tion of tea; but the inhabitants of North Carolina 
seemed to be more offended by the fee-bill, than the 
duty on that article. They rose in arms, to extermi- 
nate lawyers, and overturn courts of jus-tice; and Go- 
vernor Tryon was obUged to give the insurgents battle, 
before he could restore public tranquillity. The peo- 
ple of Massachusetts were still brooding on concerns 
of deeper interest. They considered the slightest 
measure of concession as an authority for future en- 
croachment; and they were possessed with a gloomy 
solicitude, lest the spirit, that had been roused, should 
sink into apathy; and the colonists, disheartened by 
the failure of the first effort, should be willing to sub- 
mit to oppression, rather than encounter the difficul- 
ties of resistance. But they overrated the wisdom of 
the British ministry. The controversy had gone so 
far, that it could not be terminated, without submis- 
sion, on one side or the other; and the administration 
of the mother country soon manifested their own dis- 
position, while they relieved the fears of the Bosto- 



CHAP. VII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 197 

nians, by ordering, that the garrison of provincials, in 
the castle, should be superseded by regular troops. 

When this order was connnunicated to the general 
court, in September, 1771, they immediately resolved^ 
that it was a measure calculated to alarm a free peo- 
ple*, and, lest the opportunity of resistance should 
pass by, without improvement, they organized com- 
mittees of correspondence, to circulate intelligence, 
ascertain the views of the people, in the interior, and 
keep alive the embers of disaffection. The efficacy 
of the system was soon demonstrated; and the rest of 
the colonies afterwards followed the example. But 
the English ministry seemed determined, that it 
should not be their fault, if the colonies lacked occa- 
sion to show their sense of injuries. Massachusetts 
had hitherto exercised a wholesome control over its 
officers, from the highest to the lowest, by making the 
amount of their salaries depend upon the will of the 
legislature. In the other colonies, they received 
their salaries from the king; and, in May, 1772, the 
general court were told, that the same system was 
thenceforth to be pursued in Massachusetts. This 
they declared to be a gross infraction of their char- 
tered rights; and the inflammation produced by the 
measure was yet raging, when they received, from 
Doctor Franklin, the insidious letters, which had 
been written to the department of state, by Chief 



198 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VII. 

Justice Hutchinson, and Lieutenant-Governor Oli- 
ver.* These gentlemen had continually represented 
the disaffection of Massachusetts, as extending to only 
a few turbulent individuals; and nothing was wanted, 
they said, to keep the colony in order, but a more 
vigorous system of administration. The assembly 
drew up a strong resolution, upon the subject of these 
letters; and transmitted to the king, through the 
hands of Dr. Franklin, a petition for the removal of 
Hutchinson and Oliver. The lords of the council 
called it 'a groundless, vexatious, and scandalous' 
petition. His majesty was pleased to approve the 
report; but Hutchinson was soon after removed, and 
General Gage appointed in his stead. 

The incapacity of the British statesmen was appa- 
rent, in every step of their policy towards the colonies; 
and we can never be sufficiently gi'ateful, that we 
were blessed with such a man as Franklin, to expose 
their blunders, and assert our rights; — a man, who, 
like Washington, was bred in the school of affliction; 
and who, if unequal to his great coadjutor, in the 
qualifications of a military chief, was compensated by 
a singular aptitude for almost every other kind of pur- 
suit. Lord Hillsborough supposed, that elections, in 
this country, were as expensive as those in England; 
and that, by dissolving a provincial assembly, he might 

* See Note (N). 



J^ilAP. Vri. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 109 

get rid of many obnoxious representatives. Dr. 
Franklin took care to make it generally known, that 
a candidate, in America, did not even solicit a vote, 
or give so much as ' a pint of cider' to a voter. His 
lordship supposed, also, that, as London or Dublin 
would be seriously injured, were the wealthy lords 
and commoners prevented from spending their money 
in those places, so Boston might be punished, by ad- 
journing the general court to Cambridge. Dr. Frank- 
lin told the people of England, that a representative^ 
in America, was a frugal yeoman, who, as he had 
little money to spend, so he had little occasion to 
spend it; and that the expedient of prohibiting their 
assembly in Boston, could only affect a few widows, 
who kept lodging-houses. 

But the greatest sources of annoyance to the minis- 
try, were the results of the stamp-act, and of the duty on 
tea. As Dr. Franklin was one day going to court, he 
says, he learned two things, which amused him. The 
expense of the stamp-office, in stamps and stamping, 
in paper and parchment, which had been returned on 
their hands, — amounted to twelve thousand pounds: 
their receipts from Canada and the West indies were 
fifteen hundred; and one of the commissioners was 
then attending court, with a memorial, to be allowed, 
in their accounts, the difference between their receipts 
and their expenditures! 



200 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. Vll. 

The consequences of the duty on tea were still 
more ruinous. Dr. Fi-ankhn was told, that, after de- 
ducting the expense of collection, the balance in 
favour of England was but eighty-five pounds; that 
the stock of the East India Company had sunk sixty 
per cent.; that they had on their hands, teas and other 
articles, to the amount of nearly four millions of 
pounds, for which there was no market; and that, 
calculating upon the sale of these goods, the company 
had accepted bills, which they had not the funds to 
pay. In the mean time, the trade in tea had fallen 
into the hands of the Dutch, the Danes, the Swedes, 
and the French; who, while they were supplying us 
with chests of bohea, undoubtedly took occasion to 
smu^sle in boxes of otlier soods. Dr. Franklin talked 
upon these subjects, in all companies; and he seldom 
failed to convince his hsteners, that these consequences 
were chiefly attributable to the duty on tea. 

The company themselves were convinced of the 
fact; and, in a petition, uhicli they presented to the 
king, they promised, that, if the import duty of three 
pence on the pound were taken off, they would pay 
twice the amount on exportation. The ministers 
were determined to manage the thins: in their own 
way; and a plan was now formed, to bring the reso- 
lution of the colonies to the test. Tea. they knew, 
had almost become one of the necessaries of life; and 



CHAP. VII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTIO'. 201 

they were yet to learn, that, when an article of neces- 
sity is thrown into the market, a whole people would 
suffer political considerations to prevent them from 
indulging their natural appetites. They accordingly 
granted the company more than they asked: — they not 
only took off the import duty, but allowed drawbacks 
on exportation. The opportunity- was eagerly em- 
braced; and vessels, groaning with their loads of tea, 
soon appeared before all the principal harbours of our 
countiy. 

The colonists vvere sensible, that the hour of their 
trial was come. If the tea were landed, it would be 
sold: if sold, the duties must be paid: and a pajinent 
of the duties would be a recognition of their legality. 
The first step of this fatal progress was actually taken 
in Charleston. The tea was permitted to be brought 
on shore: but the chests were immediately thrown 
into damp cellai*s-5 where they remained, until they 
were spoiled. In most instances, the ships were obliged 
to return, with their v.hole cargoes. The people of 
Boston held a meeting: and, after adopting the spirited 
resolutions, which had been taken in Philadelphia. 
they chose a committee to wait upon the consignees, 
and request them to resign. A refusal to comply with 
the request only increased the uTitatiou of the inha- 
bitants. An immense multitude assembled at Fenuil 
Hall: and it was resolved, by acclamation, •' that the 

c c 



202 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VH. 

^ tea should not be landed; that no duty should be paid: 
'and that it should be sent back in the same bottoms." 

The captain had now become alarmed; and would 
fain have obtained a clearance for England. But the 
governor would not depart from the letter of his in- 
structions; and, to keep the vessel in port, refused the 
clearance, because she had not properly gone through 
the custom-house. When the answer was reported 
to the assembly at Fenuil Hall, they immediately dis- 
solved themselves; and, as if all their minds had tacitly 
agreed upon the same expedient, they repaired in 
crowds to the wharf; when some of their number 
put on tlie dress of Mohawk Indians; went on board 
the vessel; and, in two hours, broke open and emptied 
into the harbour three hundred and forty-two chests 
of tea. 

The intelligence of this outrage rendered parlia- 
ment almost frantic with indignation. A bill was 
immediately voted, to shut up Boston as a port of en- 
try, and remove the custom-house to Salem. Another 
w^as soon after passed, which completely subverted the 
charter; and vested in the king the power of nomi- 
nating all the officers of the colony. A third followed, 
in which it was provided, that, if any person should 
be indicted for a capital offence, and it should ap- 
pear to the governor, that the fact was committed in 
aiding the magistrates to suppress riots, and that a 



CHAP. VII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 203 

fair trial could not be had iu that province, he should 
send the prisoner to another colony, or to Great Bri- 
tain. By the second bill, the governor was to be 
appointed by the king: by the last, he was to exercise 
his discretion, in the cases provided for; and the dis- 
cretion of a governor, thus appointed, was well known 
to mean nothing more than that, whenever a person 
was indicted for assisting in the suppression of a riot, 
he should be sent to England, where his crime would 
be his commendation. 

Mr. Hutchinson, who was then in England, had 
persuaded the ministry, that, by inflicting the whole 
of their chastisement upon the town of Boston, they 
would not only dissolve the union of the colonies, — 
but even dissever Massachusetts herself It was the 
misfortune of the administration to be always guided 
by such men as Mr. Hutchinson. The effect of these 
measures was precisely the reverse of what had been 
anticipated. The other colonists saw, that Boston 
was only suffering for a more inflexible perseverance 
in a system, by which they themselves had vowed to 
stand or fall. All local interests were sunk in the 
general concern: all eyes were directed to Boston; all 
listened, with palpitating anxiety, to the intelligence 
daily received from that quarter: the cause of that 
town was considered as the cause of all British Ame- 
rica; nav, the cause of all mankind; and, if the Sons 



204/ THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VII. 

of Liberty were beaten on the strong-hold, the cause 
was lost. Meetings were held in every part of the 
continent; and letters and addresses sent to Boston: 
justifying the inhabitants in all their proceedings; as- 
suring them of the sympathy of every American; 
exhorting them to be of good cheer, and depend upon 
the co-operation and support of all her sister provinces. 

The news of the Boston port bill found the legis- 
lature of Virginia in session. The house of burgesses 
immediately appointed the 1st of June, 1774, when 
the bill was to take eftect, as a day of fasting, humili- 
ation, and prayer. It was rightly judged, that, on 
that day, the thoughts of the colonists would be chiefly 
occupied with the abusive treatment of the mother 
country; and that their determination of resistance 
would sink deeper into their minds, when stamped 
with the solemnities of religious worship. The ex- 
ample was followed in all other parts of the country; 
and, almost at the same moment, the united provinces 
were addressing the Arbiter of nations, and imploring 
a righteous Providence to smile upon a righteous 
cause. 

In the mean time. Governor Gage arrived at Bos- 
ton, as the successor of Mr. Hutchinson. The general 
court assembled, a few days afterwards; and the new 
governor immediately informed them, that, agreeably 
to the late act of parliament, their place of meeting 



CHAP. VIT. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 205 

would, on the 1st of June, be changed to Salem, 
They resolved to defeat the measure; and were hur- 
rying to finish their business, when he suddenly ad- 
journed them, till the 7th of June. On the 7th of 
June they accordingly met; but, instead of taking up 
such mattei's as the governor expected them to discuss, 
they proceeded to recommend a general congress of 
delegates from all the colonies, and to appoint five 
gentlemen as the representatives of Massachusetts. 
The measure had been previously suggested at Boston 
and in New York: the legislature of Virginia, previous 
to its last dissolution, had proposed it to their com- 
mittee of correspondence; and it was now adopted 
by every province from New Hampshire to Carolina. 
As soon as the legislature had given impulse to 
this project, they proceeded to recommend, that, until 
the grievances of America should be redressed, the 
inhabitants should forego the use of East India tea; 
and should purchase no goods imported from any place 
under the dominion of Great Britain; but afford all 
possible encouragement to the manufactures of their 
own country.* Governor Gage soon heard of the man- 
ner, in which the house was spending the time; and 
he sent his secretary to dissolve the assembly. The 
doors of the room were shut against him; and he was 
obliged to read his order upon the stair-case. The 

* See Note fOV 



206 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VII. 

next day, the inhabitants of Salem presented an ad- 
dress to the governor; in which they plainly told him, 
that they did not consider it as any favour to have their 
own town made the port of entry; and that no consi- 
derations of individual emolument would induce them 
to grow rich upon the ruin of Boston, or to detach 
themselves from the common lot of all British Ame- 
rica. 

About the same time, the receipt of the bill for 
quartering troops upon the inhabitants, and of two 
others against the province of Massachusetts, g^ve 
additional stimulus to the resolution of the colonists. 
They served to convince the doubtful; to render the 
sober, violent, and the violent, outrageous. The 
committee of correspondence at Boston, immediately 
drew up 'a solemn league and covenant;^ in which they 
bound themselves, under the sanction of an oath, to 
hold no intercourse w ith the mother country, from the 
ensuing August, (1774); to purchase or consume no 
goods, which should arrive after that time; and to hold 
no communion with those, who should refuse to sub- 
scribe the same or a similar agreement. Governor 
Gage issued a proclamation, in which he called this 
covenant ' an unlawful, hostile, and traitorous combi- 
nation;' and admonished all persons to abstain from 
incurring the penalties of a compliance with its requi- 
sitions. But the time had gone by, when the colonists 
would tremble at a proclamaliou. The people of 



CHAP. VII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 207 

Massachusetts obeyed their committee; anil, as soon 
as the legislatures of the other provinces were called 
together, they manifested the same spirit, and adopted 
similar resolutions. 

On the 10th of September, 1774, the first Ame- 
rican congress met at Philadelphia. They assembled, 
the next day, at the Carpenter's Hall; and, after 
choosing Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, for their pre- 
sident, resolved, that each colony should have but a 
single vote; that they would deliberate with closed 
doors; and that all such measures as they did not de- 
termine to make public, should be kept in inviolable 
secrecy. The first act of this memorable assembly 
was, to approve a series of spirited and indignant re- 
solutions, which had been passed in the county of 
Suffolk, in Massachusetts; and to vote unanimously, 
that contributions to relieve the necessities of Boston 
should be continued as long as occasion might require. 
The merchants were requested to stop all imports 
from Great Britain; and, such was the confidence re- 
posed in the congress, that, notwithstanding orders 
had already been sent, resolutions were immediately 
passed in all parts of the country, to suspend importa- 
tions from the 1st of the following December, and to 
discontinue all exports from the 10th of September, 
1775. 

Early in the session, tlie congress drew up a 



208 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VII. 

manifesto; in which, after claiming for the colonists 
the common rights of Englishmen, they asserted, that 
those rights had been infringed by the late acts of par- 
liament, which, among other things, arrogated the 
power of making laws to bind them in all cases what- 
soever; deprived them of a trial by the peers of the 
vicinage; imposed taxes, where there was no represen- 
tation; established the Roman Catholic religion in 
Ctuebec; shut up the port of Boston; kept standing 
armies among them in time of peace; and quartered 
the soldiers upon the inhabitants. This declaration 
was followed by addresses to the king; to the people 
of Great Britain; to their own constituents; and to 
Canada, St. Johns, Nova Scotia, Georgia, and the 
Floridas.- The wisdom, firmness, and temperance of 
these papers, excited the admiration of the greatest 
statesmen in England; and were a wonder to those 
bigotted Englishmen, who had been accustomed to 
think, with profound contempt, of the spirit and intel- 
ligence of the colonists. 

The language of these sages can never become 
trite by copying; and their own words are their best 
eulogy. ' When,' say they, in the address to the 
English people, 'when a nation, led to greatness by 
the hand of liberty, and possessed of all the glory, 
that heroism, munificence, and humanity can bestow, 
descends to the ungrateful task of forging chains for 



CHAP. VII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 209 

her friends and children, and, instead of giving sup- 
port to freedom, turns advocate for slavery and op- 
pression, there is reason to suspect she has either 
ceased to be virtuous, or been extremely negligent in 
the appointment of her rulers. 

' In almost every age, in repeated conflicts, in long 
and bloody wars, as well civil as foreign, against many 
and powerful nations, against the open assaults of ene- 
mies, and the more dangerous treachery of friends, 
have the inhabitants of your island, your great and 
glorious ancestors, maintained their independence, 
and transmitted the rights of men and the blessings of 
liberty to you, their posterity. 

' Be not surprised, therefore, that we, who are 
descended from the same common ancestors; that we, 
whose forefathers participated in all the rights, the 
liberties, and the constitution, you so justly boast of; 
and who have carefully conveyed the same fair inhe- 
ritance to us, guaranteed by the plighted faith of go- 
vernment, and the most solemn compacts with British 
sovereigns, should refuse to surrender them to men, who 
found their claims on no principles of reason, and who 
prosecute them with a design, that, by having our 
lives and property in their power, they may with the 
greater facility enslave you.' 

' We believe,^ say they, in another place, ' there 
is yet much virtue, much justice, and much public 

Dd 



210 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. \U 

Spirit in the English nation. To that justice we now 
appeal. You have been told, that we are seditious, 
impatient of government, and desirous of indepen- 
dency. Be assured, that these are not facts, but 
calumnies. Permit us to be as free as yourselves, and 
we shall ever esteem a union with you as our greatest 
glory, and our greatest happiness: we shall ever be 
ready to contribute all in our power to the welfare of 
the empire: we shall consider your enemies as our 
enemies, and your interest as our own. 

' But, if you are determined, that your ministers 
shall wantonly sport with the rights of mankind, — if 
neither the voice of justice, the dictates of the law, the 
principles of the constitution, nor the suggestions of 
humanity, can restrain you from shedding blood in 
such an impious cause; we must then tell you, that 
W'e will never submit to be hewers of wood or drawers 
of water for any ministry or nation in the world.'* 

In the petition to the king, they say, ' We ask but 
for peace, liberty, and safety. We wish not a diminu- 
tion of the prerogative, nor do we solicit the grant of 
any new right in our favour; your royal authority over 
us, and our connexion with Great Britain, we shall 
zealously and carefully endeavour to support and 
maintain.^ 

• The committee appointed to draft this address were Mr. Lee, Mr 
Livingston, and Mr. Jay ; the latter of whom is supposed to have writteis 
the paper. 



CHAP. VII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 211 

The following manly appeal concludes the address: 
'Permit us, then, most gracious sovereign, in the 
name of all your faithful people in America, with the 
utmost humihty to implore you, for the honour of 
Almighty God, whose pure religion our enemies are 
undermining; for your glory, which can be advanced 
only by rendering your subjects happy, and keeping 
them united; for the interests of your family, depend- 
ing on an adherence to the principles that enthroned 
it; for the safety and welfare of your kingdom and 
dominions, threatened with almost unavoidable dan- 
gers and distresses; that your majesty as the loving 
father of your whole people, connected by the same 
bonds of law, loyalty, faith, and blood, though dwelling 
in various countries, will not suffer the transcendent 
relation, formed by these ties, to be further violated, 
in uncertain expectation of effects, that, if attained, 
never can compensate for the calamities, through 
which they must be gained.'* 

But, while they held out to the king the hopes of 
reconciliation, their language to the colonists antici- 
pated a more important catastrophe. ' Your own 
salvation,' say they, ' and that of your posterity, now 
depend upon yourselves. You have already shown 

* Mr. Lee, Mr. John Adams, Mr. Johnson, Mr. Henry, and Mr. Rut» 
ledge, were appointed to report this petition. It is supposed to have been 
penned by Mr. Lee. 



212 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VH. 

that you entertain a proper sense of the blessings you 
are striving to retain. Against the temporary incon- 
veniences you may suffer from a stoppage of trade, 
you will weigh, in the opposite balance, the endless 
miseries you and your descendents must endure from 
an established arbitrary power. You will not forget 
the honour of your country, that must, from your be- 
haviour, take its title, in the estimation of the world, 
to glory or to shame; and you will, with the deepest 
attention, reflect, that, if the peaceable mode of oppo- 
sition, recommended by us, be broken and rendered 
ineffectual, as your cruel and haughty ministerial ene- 
mies, from a contemptuous opinion of your firmness, 
insolently predict will be the case, you must inevitably 
be reduced to choose, either a more dangerous con- 
test, or a final, ruinous, and infamous submission. 

' Motives thus cogent, arising from the emergency 
of your unhappy condition, must excite your utmost 
diligence and zeal to give all possible strength and 
energy to the pacific measures calculated for your 
relief. But we think ourselves bound in duty to ob- 
serve to you, that the schemes agitated against the 
colonies have been so conducted, as to render it pru- 
dent that you should extend your views to mournful 
events, and be in all respects prepared for every con- 
tingency. Above all things, we earnestly entreat you, 
with devotion of spirit, penitence of heart, and amend- 



CHAP. VIL BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 2\S 

ment of life^ to humble yourselves, and implore the 
favour of Almighty God; and we fervently beseech 
his divine goodness, to take you into his gracious 
protection.'* 

Revelations from above could hardly have been 
observed with more devotion, than the resolves and 
recommendations of this congress. Whatever might 
have been the doubts of the separate colonies, re- 
specting the sincerity of each other, they were now 
convinced, that there were but one heart and one hand 
in the cause. The language of their congress was 
conned by rote: not a hint was lost; and, though no- 
thing had been said of warlike preparation, they ' ex- 
' tended their views to mournful events/ by forming 
themselves into independent companies, and practis- 
ing the evolutions of military discipline. The liberal 
contributions received by the Bostonians could not 
remunerate them for the total destruction of their 
trade; but oppression, while it increased the sympathy 
of their neighbours, only seemed to make them the 
more resolute. The colonists had risen above all self- 
ish considerations; and it ought to be mentioned, to 
the particular honour of the people at Marblehead, 
that they not only gave the importers of Boston the 
free use of their wharves and stores, — but proffered 
their services to load and unload their vessels. 

* This paper was, ulao^ 'lr;nvn iip by Messrs. Lee, Liviiig'ston, and Jay. 



214 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. Vll. 

Not long after General Gage was made governor 
of Massachusetts, two regiments of infantry, with a 
small detachment of artillery, were landed at Boston, 
and encamped on the common. The force was gra- 
dually increased, by the accession of some other regi- 
ments; and, at last, the governor ordered a guard to 
be placed across the Neck, which joins Boston to the 
main land. A report flew into the interior, that all 
communication was intercepted, between the country 
and the town. The inhabitants of Worcester county 
ran together, with arms in their hands; and, had not 
some of the more prudent suggested the propriety of 
sending messengers, to ascertain the fact, they would 
have instantly marched to Boston, and fallen upon the 
troops. It may have been the same report, that, 
acquiring volume as it proceeded, not long after- 
wards, alarmed the people of Connecticut, with the 
story of a combined attack, by the British fleet and 
army, upon the town of Boston. Several thousand 
men immediately assembled; took up their march; 
and had advanced a considerable distance, before 
they received a contradictory account. 

It was about the same time, that the new coun- 
sellors and judges, of whom the governor had received 
a list, were to enter upon the discharge of their re- 
spective offices. The people collected around the 
houses of the counsellors, and compelled them to 



CHAP. VII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 215 

resign; and, no sooner were the doors of the court- 
house opened, than crowds pressed in, to fill up the 
room; and, when ordered to make way for the court, 
answered, that they knew no court, and should sub- 
mit to no court, but the ancient laws and customs of 
the country. Governor Gage had issued writs for 
the election of representatives to the assembly; but 
afterwards judged it prudent to recall them. The 
colonists differed with him in opinion. Elections 
were held, in spite of his countermand; and, when 
the delegates met together, they voted themselves into 
authority, and sat as a provincial congress. A plan 
of defence was drawn up; provisions and stores voted 
for twelve thousand miUtia; and a body of men en- 
rolled, to be ready for service, at a moment's warning. 
Governor Gage, now deemed it expedient to fortify 
Boston Neck. This appeared to be the final blow to 
that system of resentful measures, which had been 
directed against the town; but, such was the inflexi- 
bility of its inhabitants, that, instead of being hum- 
bled by the measure, they grew more obstinate; and, 
to put an end, at once, to the contest, resolved to 
evacuate the peninsula. Before so important a step 
should be taken, the more considerate leaders proposed 
to ask the advice of the general congress. The ge- 
neral congress referred the subject to the provincial 
congress; and, before the latter could decide the 



21G THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VII. 

question, they were probably interrupted by new occa- 
sions of alarm, and more urgent topics of discussion. 
As the time approached for the general muster of 
the militia, Governor Gage thought it would do no 
harm, to seize the ammunition and warlike stores, in 
the arsenal at Cambridge, and in the magazines at 
Charlestown. As soon as the intelligence reached 
the country, the inhabitants again assembled in arms; 
and were again prevented, by better advisers, from 
marching directly to Boston. But the spirit was only 
suppressed, in one place, to break out in another. 
The fort at Portsmouth, in New Hampshire, and 
another in Rhode Island, were, not long afterwards, 
stormed, carried, and robbed of their ammunition, by 
armed bodies of the colonists. Indeed, General Gage 
was soon convinced, how idle were the names of king 
or governor, where the people are resolved not to 
obey. To avoid the hazardous experiment of quar- 
tering troops upon the town, he undertook to erect 
some temporary barracks, for the winter. The select- 
men obliged the labourers to quit the work; and, 
though carpenters were, at last, obtained from New 
York, it was with the greatest difficulty that the 
buildings were completed. It was now time, also, to 
purchase winter clothes for the soldiers. The agency 
was offered to almost every merchant in New York; 
but those, who approved the colonistSj would not, and 



CHAP. VII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 211 

those who favoured the ministry, durst not, have any 
thing to do with it. 

Parhament, in the mean time, was exerting its 
omnipotence to subdue the ^daring spirit of resistance 

* and disobedience/ which, the king said, ' still pre- 

* vailed in Massachusetts.^ Lord Chatham endeavour- 
ed to introduce some conciliatory measures; but he 
was overpowered by a majority of sixty-one to thirty- 
two; and Lord North obtained two hundred and 
eighty-eight votes, in three hundred and ninety-four, 
for an address to his majesty, in which it was resolved, 
' that a rebellion actually exists in Massachusetts Bay.' 
In the debate on this motion, the American character 
was treated with the greatest contempt; and General 
Grant said, in the sublimity of his scorn, that, with 
five regiments of infantry, he would undertake to 
drive the inhabitants from one end of the continent 
to the other. Military men are apt to imagine, that 
no force of inexperienced militia can stand before a 
few well-trained regular troops: but, if any should still 
tliink, that discipline and order are any thing, com- 
pared with a sense of injuries, or a love of country, 
let them go to the plains of Marathon, or the heights 
of Bunker's Hill.* 

To cripple what he supposed to be the only re- 
fractory part of the colonies. Lord North next intro- 

* Sec Note (P), 

E e 



218 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VII, 

duced a bill to deprive New England of her fisheries. 
It was scarcely passed, when the American papers 
brought the intelligence, that the disaffection was not 
confined to the north; and the restraints were imme- 
diately extended, by a second bill, to East and West 
Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Virginia, South Ca- 
rolina, and the counties on the Delaware. New York 
and North Carolina were spared, because they still 
appeared to be loyal. The former refused to adopt 
the resolutions of congress; and the latter had taken 
no decisive part on either side. When North Carohna 
joined the common cause, we know not; but New 
York was soon after converted, by the rejection of a 
petition, which she had laid before the commons by 
the hands of Mr. Burke, — the only man, besides Lord 
Chatham, who decried the injustice, and exposed the 
impolicy, of parliament, in its measures relating to 
America. 

The commons were ready for the adoption of any 
measure, which was hostile to America; but, when 
another bill, brought in by Lord North, proposed, 
that parliament should cease to tax that colony, which 
should tax itself, as much as parliament desired, the 
house was in an uproar of indignation. Lord North 
was brazen enough to avow, that his object was to 
divide America; and silly enough to imagine, that, 
after such an avowal, the Americans would be caught 
in the trap. The commons, however, would listen to 



CHAP. Vll. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 219 

nothing, which had the appearance of concihation; 
and it was not till after the bill was shown to be really 
an attack in the shape of a concession, that they could 
be made to adopt it. Copies were immediately de- 
spatched to all the colonies; and the event showed, 
that the measure had been taken with the most per- 
fect safety. 

The colonies no longer doubted, that an open 
rupture was inevitable; and, while they were electing 
delegates for the ensuing congress, they urged the 
militia and minute-men to perfect their discipline, and 
hold themselves in readiness. The crisis was now 
arrived. On the night of the 18th of April, 1775, 
Governor Gage despatched Major Pitcairn and Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel Smith, with eight or nine hundred 
men, to destroy a quantity of military stores, which 
had been collected at Concord. Great pains were 
taken to keep the expedition a secret; but some mes- 
sengers, sent out by Dr. Warren, were enabled to 
spread the alarm; and, when the troops reached Lex- 
ington at five, on the morning of the 1 9th, they found 
about seventy militia paraded under arms. Major 
Pitcairn galloped to their front; and cried out, ' Re- 
'bels, disperse! down with your arms, and disperse/ 
His own soldiers shouted and rushed on. Here and 
there a scattering fire first announced the catastrophe; 
and a general discharge soon broke the spell for ever. 



220 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VII. 

The militia were routed, with eight men killed, and 
several wounded. 

Before Lieutenant-Colonel Smith proceeded to 
Concord, he detached six companies of light infantry 
to occupy two bridges, which it would be necessary 
to secure. Some minute-men and militia, who had 
been cautioned not to give the first fire, attempted to 
pass them, as common travellers. The enemy (for 
we must, hereafter, use that name) fired, and killed 
two men. A skirmish ensued; and the regulars were 
worsted. The militia now poured in, from every 
quarter. The British, finding themselves attacked 
. on all sides, commenced a retreat, and were driven 
back, by inches, into Lexington. Foreboding some 
such event, Governor Gage had despatched Lord 
Percy, in the morning, with sixteen companies of 
foot, a body of marines, and two pieces of artillery. 
They arrived in time to give the regulars a short 
respite; but they soon renewed the retreat; and the 
militia continued to hang on their rear and flanks, 
and to gall them from trees and stone-fences, until 
they arrived, about sunset, at Charlestown. The 
colonists had now taken their choice; and ratified it 
by the most sacred of all symbols. ' The very first 
^ drop of blood, which is shed in America,^ said Chat- 
ham, Svill cause a wound, that never can be healed.'* 

* See Note (Q). 



CHAP. VIII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 221 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Birth and Early Life of Washington— Mission to the French, 
on the Frontiers — Appointment of Lieutenant-Colonel, in 
the Virginia Regiment — Defeat at Fort Necessity — Resig- 
nation — Volunteers as Aid to General Braddock — iAIade 
Commander-in-chief of the Virginia Forces — ^Exertions for 
the Defence of the Frontiers — Abused by Governor Din- 
widdle — Defamed by his Enemies— Expedition, under Ge- 
neral Forbes, against Fort Du Quesne — Second Resigna- 
tion, and Marriage. 

W^E have hitherto abstained from giving any notices 
of the chief actor in our revolution, because we sup- 
posed, the importance of his part would entitle him 
to a distinct chapter, in our early history. It is, even 
now, too general an opinion, that Washington had 
seen little military service, before the eruption of the 
colonial war; but, if, as it has been remarked, his 
subsequent life may be considered as the history of 
America, his life previous to that event may be called 
the history of Virginia. He underwent a severe ap- 
prenticeship to the trade of war, under its most hor- 
rible aspects; and, if we can extend the knowledge 
of the school, in wliich so glorious a rharacter was 



222 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VHI. 

formed, we shall account ourselves sufficiently ex- 
cused for an episode in our story. 

George Washington, the third son of Augustine 
Washington, the grandson of John Washington, who 
emigrated from England, in 1657, was born at Bridges 
Creek, in the county of Westmoreland, in Virginia, 
on the 22d of February, 1732. He lost his father at 
ten years of age. His education was scanty; his 
patrimony inconsiderable; and he spent the early part 
of his life in the profession of a surveyor. At the age 
of fifteen, his urgent solicitations for a post in the 
British navy, procured for him the warrant of a mid- 
shipman; but the affectionate interposition of a timid 
mother reserved him for a more glorious career. No- 
thing, however, can be a stronger evidence of his 
early proficiency in military science, than, that, at the 
age of nineteen, he was appointed an adjutant-general 
of Virginia; and, two years afterwards, selected for 
the perilous and difficult enterprise of carrying Mr. 
Dinwiddle's letter to the French commander, on the 
western posts. Nor does his own account of the 
manner, in which he executed the trust, tend at all 
to diminish our opinion of his capacity for observa- 
tion, and of his patience under fatigue^ hardship, 
hunger, and cold.^ 

* His Jeunial'is published, at leng']), in the appendix to Judge Mar- 
shall's second volume. 



eHAP. VIII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 22S 

He set out from Williamsburg, on the 31st of Oc- 
tober, 1753; and, passing through Fredericksburg, 
Alexandria, and Winchester, arrived at Wills^ Creek, 
the westernmost English settlement, on the 14th of 
November. A guide and four servitors were pro- 
cured: but, so excessive had been the fall of rain and 
snow, that it was as late as the 23d, before our adven- 
turer reached the forks of the Ohio, a distance of 
about fifty miles. ' I spent some time (says he) in 
viewing the rivers, and the land in the fork; which 
I think extremely well situated for a fort, as it has 
the absolute command of both rivers. The land, at 
the point, is twenty or twenty-five feet above the 
common surface of the water; and a considerable 
bottom of flat, well timbered land all around it, very 
convenient for building. The rivers are each a 
quarter of a mile, or more, across, and run here very 
nearly at right angles; Alleghany, bearing north-east: 
and Monongahela, south-east. The former of these 
two is a very rapid and swift running water; th<; 
other deep and still, without any perceptible fall/ 

Shingess, the king of the Delawares, accompanied 
the party to Loggstown, a settlement, about eighteen 
miles from the forks; where they arrived between 
sunset and dark, on the 24th; and where it was in- 
tended to disclose the object of the expedition, in a 
council of the Six Nations. As the Half-King was 



22 1< THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VHI 

absent at his hunting-cabin, Mr. Washington went to 
Monakatooclia; gave him 'a string of wampum and a 
'twist of tobacco;' and, after obtaining a promise, that 
all the sachems should be sent for, in the morning, 
invited him and the other great men to his tent. The 
Half-King arrived the next day; and Mr. Washington 
did not omit to interrogate him, particularly, respect- 
ing his visit to the French commander. The chief 
recited the whole of the speech, which he made on 
the occasion; — and which concluded in these words: 
■^Fathers, both you and the English are white; we 
live in a country between; therefore, the land belongs 
to neither the one nor the other. But tlie great 
Being above allowed it to be a place of residence for 
us: so, fathers, I desire you to withdraw, as I have 
done our brothers, the English; for I will keep you 
at arms' length. I lay this down as a trial for both, 
to see which will have the greatest regard to it; and 
that side we will stand by, and make equal sharers 
with us. Our brothers, the English, have heard this; 
and I come now to tell it to you; for I am not afraid 
to discharge you off this land;' delivering up the 
French wampum, as a token of disagreement. The 
general, he said, answered him, in a contemptuous 
speech, beginning with 'Now, my child;' called all 
the Indians 'flies and mosquitoes;' 'slung' back the 
wampum: told the Half-King, he ' talked foolish;' and 



CHAP. VIII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 225 

asserted his resolution of holding the country, in spite 
of Indians or English. 

This insolence completed the enmity of the Half- 
King; and, in the council, at the Long House, on the 
26th, he assured Mr. Washington, that his party 
should be provided with an ample guard; and that all 
the Indian tribes, in that quarter, should break off 
their alliance with the French, by sending back their 
respective strings of wampum, or speech belts. A 
delay of four days was occasioned by the absence of 
the Half-King's wampum, and by the failure of the 
Shannoah chiefs to appear in season. On the 30th, 
Mr. Washington was enabled to set out, under the 
convoy of the Half-King himself, together with three 
other chiefs; and, on the 4th of next month, he ar- 
rived at Venango, an old Indian settlement, at the 
mouth of French Creek. The French colours were 
flying on a house, which Mr. John Frazer, an Eng- 
lish subject, had been compelled to relinquish. Mr. 
Washington wanted to speak with the commander. 
Captain Joncaire made his appearance; was very 
complaisant; and invited our ambassador to sup with 
him and his brother-officers. 'The wine, as they 
dosed themselves pretty plentifully with it, (says the 
former,) soon banished the restraint, which, at tirst, 
appeared in their conversation, and gave a license 
lo their tongues to reveal their sentiments more 

Ff 



2^6 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VIII. 

freely. They told me, that it was their absolute 
design, to take possession of the Ohio, and by G — d 
they would do it: for that, although they were sensi- 
ble the English could raise two men for their one; 
yet they knew their motions were too slow and dila- 
tory to prevent any undertaking of theirs. They 
pretended to have an undoubted right to the river, 
from a discovery made by one La Salle, sixty years 
ago.' 

It rained so excessively, on the 5th, that our 
party were unable to travel. ^ Captain Joncaire (con- 
tinues Mr. Washington) sent for the Half-King, as he 
had just heard that he came with me. He affected 
to be much concerned, that I did not make free to 
bring them in before. I excused it in the best man- 
ner of which I was capable, and told him, I did not 
think their company agreeable, as I had heard him 
say a good deal in dispraise of Indians in general: 
but another motive prevented me from bringing them 
into his company: I knew that he was an interpreter, 
and a person of great influence among the Indians, 
and had lately used all means to draw them over to 
his interest: therefore, I was desirous of giving him 
no opportunity that could be avoided. ' When they 
came in, great pleasure was expressed at seeing 
them. He wondered how they could be so near, 
without coming to visit him; made several trifling 
presents; and applied the hquor so fast, that they 



CHAP. VIII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 227 

were soon rendered incapable of the business they 
came about, notwithstanding the caution which was 
given.' 

Captain Joncaire refused to take back their wam- 
pum; and so effectually did he ply them with liquor, 
presents, and fine speeches, that, when Mr. Washing- 
ton came to start, on the 7th, it was with the greatest 
difficulty, that they were prevailed upon to bear him 
company. It was only sixty miles to the fort on French 
Creek: yet it took our party four days to make their 
way through the swamps and mires, which every 
where impeded their progress. Mr. Washington has- 
tened to deliver Mr. Dinwidie's letter; and, while the 
French officers retired to hold a council upon it, he 
employed himself in ascertaining the strength and di- 
mensions of the fort. It was not until the morning 
of the 1 4th, that he received the answer of M. Le- 
garduer de St. Pierre; who, in the mean time, had 
used every artifice in his power, to detach the Indian 
chiefs, and prevent their return. He refused their 
speech-belt; drenched them with spiritous liquors; 
loaded them with presents; amused them with fair 
promises: and it required all the industrious and ur- 
gent perseverance of Mr. Washington, to get them 
away from a place, where they received so many flat- 
tering attentions and such comfortable fare. ' I can- 
not say, (we use his words.) that ever in my life T 



22S THE U^'ITED STATES CHAP. VIll. 

suffered so much anxiety as in this affair: I saw that, 
every stratagem, which tlie most fruitful brain could 
invent, was practised to win the Half-King to their 
interest; and that leaving him here was giving them 
the opportunity they aimed at. I went to the Half- 
King, and pressed him in the strongest terms to go; he 
told me that the commandant would not discharge them 
until the morning. I then went to the commandant, 
and desired him to do their business, and complained 
of ill treatment; for keeping them, as they were a part 
of my company, was detaining me. This he promised 
not to do, but to forward my journey as much as he 
could. He pretended he did not keep them, but was 
ignorant of the cause of their stay; though I found it 
out. He had promised them a present of guns, &c. if 
they would wait until morning. As I was very much 
pressed by the Indians to wait this day for them, I 
consented, on a promise that nothing should hinder 
them in the morning.^ 

As the horses became weaker every day, it had 
been determined to send them forward, with the bag- 
gage, and to descend the creek in a canoe. "^ We had 
(says Washington) a tedious and very fatiguing pass- 
age. Several times we had like to have been staved 
against rocks; and many times were obhged all hands 
to get out and remain in the water half an hour or 
more, getting on the shoals. At one place, the ice had 



CHAP. VIII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 229 

lodged, and made it impassable by water; we were^ 
therefore, obliged to carry our canoe across the neck 
of land, a quarter of a mile over. We did not reach 
Venango until the 22({, where we met with our horses/ 
But, ' our horses were now so weak and feeble, and 
the baggage so heavy, (as wc were obliged to provide 
all the necessaries which the journey would require,) 
that we doubted much their performing it. Therefore, 
myself and others, except the drivers, who were 
obliged to ride, gave up our horses for packs, to assist 
along with the baggage. I put myself in an Indian 
walking dress, and continued with them three days, 
until I found there was no probability of their getting 
home in any reasonable time. The horses became 
less able to travel every day; the cold increased very 
fast; and the roads were becoming much worse by 
continually freezing; therefore, as I was uneasy to get 
back, to make report of my proceedings to his honour 
the governor, I determined to prosecute my journey, 
the nearest way through the woods, on foot. 

■ I took my necessary papers, pulled oiTmy clothci', 
and tied myself up in a watch coat. Then, with gun 
in hand, and pack on my back, in which were my 
papers and provisions, I set out with Mr. Gist, fitted 
in the same manner, on Wednesday, the 26th. The 
day following, just after we had passed a place called 
Murdering-town, (where v/e intended to quit the path 



230 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VIII. 

and steer across the country for Shannepins town,)' 
at the forks of the Ohio^ ' we fell in with a party of 
French Indians, who had laid in wait for us. One 
of them fired at Mr. Gist or me, not fifteen steps off, 
but fortunately missed. We took this fellow into cus- 
tody, and kept him until about nine o'clock at night, 
then let him go, and walked all the remaining part of 
the night without making any stop, that we might get 
the start, so far, as to be out of the reach of their pur- 
suit next day, since we were well assured they would 
follow our track as soon as it was light. The next day 
we continued travelling until it was quite dark, and 
got to the river about two miles above Shannapins. 
We expected to have found the river frozen, but it 
was not, only about fifty yards from each shore: the 
ice I suppose had broken up above, for it was driving 
in vast quantities. 

^ There was no way for getting over but on a raft; 
which we set about with one poor hatchet, and finished 
just after sun-setting. This was a whole day's work; 
we next got it launched, then went on board of it, and 
set off: but before we were half way over, we were 
jammed in the ice, in such a manner, that we expect- 
ed every moment our raft to sink, and ourselves to 
perish. I put out my setting-pole to try to stop the 
raft, that the ice might pass by, when the rapidity of 
the stream threw it with such violence against the 



CHAP. VIII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 231 

pole, that it jerked me out into ten feet Vi^ater: but I 
fortunately saved myself by catching hold of one of 
the raft logs. Not\^itllstanding all our efforts, we could 
not get to either shore, but were obliged, as we were 
near an island, to quit our raft and make to it.' 

The cold was excessively severe. All Mr. Gist's 
fingers, and some of his toes, were frozen; and, by 
morning, the ice had become so thick, that both were 
enabled to reach the land, and go to Mr. Frazer's, an 
Indian trader, at the mouth of Turtle Creek. ' As 
we intended to take horses here, (continues the jour- 
nal,) and it required some time to find them, I went 
up about three miles, to the mouth of Yohogany, to 
visit Q,ueen AUiquippa, who had expressed great 
concern that we had passed her in going to the fort: 
I made her a present of a watch-coat, and a bottle of 
rum, which latter was thought much the best present 
of the two.' He set out from Mr. Frazers on the 1st 
of January, and arrived at Williamsburg on the 16th; 
— "^ after as fatiguing a journey as it was possible to 
conceive, rendered so by excessive bad weather. 
From the 1st day of December to the 10th, there was 
but one day in which it did not rain or snow incessant- 
ly; and throughout the whole journey, we met with 
nothing but one continued series of cold, wet weather.' 
His route lay through an enemy's country; and he 
was under the r.c(*essity of 1 ravelling as rapidly as 



232 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VHI. 

possible. Yet, under ail these disadvantages, Mr. 
Washington was enabled, by his own observations, 
and by inquiries of others, to gain very accurate, and 
even very extensive, information, respecting the face 
and soil of the country, — the distances and bearings 
of places, — and the number, size, and strength, of 
nearly all the enemy's fortresses. 

His letter from the French commandant, deter- 
mined Governor Dinwiddie to raise a regiment of 
three hundred men, for the defence of what was 
claimed as British territory. Mr. Washington soli- 
cited and obtained the post of lieutenant-colonel;* 
and was permitted to lead two companies in advance, 
as far as the Great Meadows. Soon after his arrival, 
some friendly Indians brought him the intelligence, 
that a detachment of the French was on its march to 
his camp. He resolved to anticipate M. Jumonville; 
and, taking the Indians for guides, he set out in a 
dark and rainy night; and, by day-break, had reached, 
surrounded, and captured the French party. One 
man escaped; and the commander was among the 
killed. The Americans returned to the Great Mea- 
dows: the arrival of the otlier Virginia troops, and of 
two companies from South Carolina and 'New York, 
increased their numbers to four hundred effective 
men: and the death of Colonel Fry devolved the corn- 

.'.- Xolc(R). 



CHAP. VIII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 233 

mand upon Lieutenant-Colonel Washington. A small 
stockade was erected; and Colonel Washington com- 
menced his march against Fort Du Q,uesne. At the 
westernmost foot of Laurel Hill, thirteen miles from 
the Meadows, he received information, from the In- 
dians, that the French, with their savage allies, ^ as 
' numerous as the pigeons in the woods,' were rapidly 
advancing to meet him. His troops had already been 
six days without bread: their stock of meat was nearly 
exhausted; and, as the enemy might easily cut off all 
supplies, by getting in their rear, it was thought most 
prudent to re-occupy the Great Meadows, and com- 
mence a ditch around what was now called Fort JVe- 
cessity. The work was arrested, by the appearance 
of the enemy; who, about fifteen hundred in number, 
immediately made an assault. The Americans re- 
ceived them, with the most stedfast intrepidity. The 
action commenced at ten in the morning: it was con- 
tinued, with mutual ardour, through the day; and, at 
dark, M. Villier called for a parley, and offered the 
terms, upon which, he supposed, the American com- 
mandant would be induced to surrender. The terms 
were rejected; and, though Colonel Washington, at 
last, signed a capitulation, it was only with the express 
proviso, that his troops should march out, with the 
honours of war, and be unmolested, in their re- 

G g 



^34 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. \1n. 

turn to Virginia. The legislature voted thanks to the 
officers,* and three hundred pistolets for the soldiers. 
M. Villier published an account of this affair; and, 
as the capitulation had been drawn up hastily, and in 
French, Colonel Washington was surprised to find, 
that, when literally translated, his language plainly 
admitted M. Jumonville to have been assassinated. 
This circumstance was by no means overlooked, when 
it afterwards became expedient to vilify Washington, — 
and when the conclusive explanation, afforded by the 
following extract from one of his letters, was supposed 
to have been forgotten: 'That we were wilfully, or 
ignorantly, deceived by our interpreter, (says he,) in 
regard to the word assassination, I do aver, and will 
to my dying moment; so will every officer that was 
present. The interpreter was a Dutchman, little 
acquainted with the English tongue; therefore might 
not advert to the tone and meaning of the word in 
English; but, whatever his motives for so doing, cer- 
tain it is, he called it the death, or the loss of Sieur 
Jumonville. So we received, and so we understood 
it, until, to our great surprise and mortification, we 
found it otherwise, in a literal translation.' 

As soon as the Virginia regiment was reinforced 
with some companies from North Carolina and Mary- 
land, the lieutenant-governor ordered it to march 
immediately for the frontiers; though the whole num- 

* See Note (S). 



CHAP. VIII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 235 

ber of men did not exceed half those of the enemy; 
and though they were entirely destitute of every 
requisite for a winter campaign. The 'worshipful 
' house of burgesses' gave directions, also, that the 
regiment should be immediately filled up; but not a 
single shilling was voted for the purpose: the assembly 
rose, without taking any further steps in the business; 
and, in spite of all his remonstrances. Colonel Wash- 
ington was grieved to see the season of action pass 
away, without any prospect of retrieving the fortunes 
of the colony. To complete his mortification, orders 
were received, in the course of the winter, that all 
the regular officers should rank above the provincial. 
He indignantly threw up a commission, which could, 
only be retained on these humiliating terms; and, retir- 
ing to an estate, on the Potowmac, which had been left 
to him by his brother, Mr. Lawrence Washington, — 
and which he called Mount Vernon, after the admiral 
of that name, — he passed his time in domestic pur- 
suits; till the invitation of General Braddock induced 
him to re-enter the army, as a volunteer aid. 

General Braddock entertained no doubt, that the 
tactics, which he had learned in countries, where the 
roads are numerous, and the ground level, would an- 
swer equally for trackless deserts and almost impass- 
able mountains. It was not until the army had 
consumed a great deal of valuable time, in marching 



236 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VHI, 

over five miles a day, that he would adopt the advice 
of Washington, to change his wagons for pack- 
horses: and, 'instead of disregarding a httle rough 
' road,^ (to use the words of the latter,) his troops 
must proceed according to the usages of regular war- 
fare; stopping to 'level eveiy mole-hill, and to erect 
' bridges over every brook/ On the third day of the 
march from Wills' Creek, Mr. Washington himself 
was taken with a raging fever; and had to exchange 
his horse for a covered wagon. At the Great Cross- 
ing of the Yohogany, the physician declared, that his 
life would be endangered, by proceeding farther; and 
General Braddock peremptorily commanded him to 
stop. He obeyed; but not without exacting a solemn 
promise, that he should be carried in front, before 
the army reached Du Q,uesne; and, as we have already 
related, he was able to be present, and to perform his 
duties, at the disastrous battle of Monongahcla. In- 
deed, he was soon the only officer on horseback, who 
could perform his duties. All the others were either 
killed or wounded: two horses were shot under himself; 
four balls passed through his clothes; and, says Dr. 
Craik, an eye-witness, ' I expected, every moment, to 
* see him fall.' He was among the last who turned 
their backs; and assisted Captain Stewart and a ser- 
vant, in bringing off the tumbril, with the commander 
in chief 



CHAP, VIII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 237 

He attributed the defeat entirely to the cowardice 
and misconduct of the regulars. ' They were struck 
with such an inconceivable panic,' says he, in a letter 
to Governor Dinwiddle, ' that nothing but confusion 
and disobedience of orders prevailed among them. 
The officers in general behaved with incomparable 
bravery, for which they greatly suffered, there being 
upwards of sixty killed and wounded, a large propor- 
tion out of what we had. The Virginia companies 
behaved like men, and died like soldiers; for I believe, 
out of three companies on the ground that day, scarce 
thirty men were left alive. Captain Peronny, and all 
his officers, down to a corporal, were killed: Captain 
Poulson had almost as hard a fate, for only one of his 
escaped. In short, the dastardly behaviour of the 
regular troops, (so called,) exposed those who were 
inclined to do their duty, to almost certain death; and 
at length, in spite of every effort to the contrary, they 
broke, and ran as sheep before hounds, leaving the 
artillery, ammunition, provisions, baggage, and in 
short every thing a prey to the enemy; and when we 
endeavoured to rally them, in hopes of regaining the 
ground, and what we had left upon it, it was with as 
Httle success as if we had attempted to stop the wild 
boars of the mountains, or the rivulets with our feet; 
for they would break by in spite of eveiy effort to pre- 
vent it.' ' We have been beaten, (says he, in another 



238 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VHI. 

letter,) shamefully beaten, by a handful of men, who 
only intended to molest and disturb our march! Vic- 
tory was their smallest expectation! but see the won- 
derous works of Providence, the uncertainty of human 
things! We, but a few moments before, believed our 
numbers equal to the force of Canada; they only ex- 
pected to annoy us. Yet, contrary to all expectation, 
and human probability, and even the common course 
of things, we were totally defeated, and have sustained 
the loss of every thing.' 

After so utter a discomfiture, no further aid could, 
for the present, be expected from the regular troops; 
and the legislature of Virginia resolved to put Colonel 
Washington at the head of a provincial regiment, and to 
make him commander in chief of all the forces, which 
had been, or should be, raised in that colony. He imme- 
diately set about arrangements for recruiting the new 
troops, and re-organizing the old: and he was return- 
ing from a visit of inspection to the frontier posts, — 
^vhen an express arrested him with the tidings, that 
the French and Indians had made an irruption, and 
were ravaging the back country, far and near. He 
found all in confusion at Winchester. As every man 
must attend to his own particular affairs, no menace 
or exhortation could bring the militia into the field; 
and, though orders were immediately despatched to 
the newly-appointed officers, and to the county lieu- 



€HAP. VIII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 2S9 

tenants, below the Blue Ridge, the enemy re-crossed 
the mountains, before any troops arrived at the scene 
of action. A second irruption took place in the spring 
of the following year, 1756; and a second abortive 
effort was made to oppose them, with something like 
an effective force. The enemy drew courage from 
this impotence; and their murders and robberies were 
frequently committed under the walls, and at the very 
gates, of the forts. Of the frontier inhabitants, who 
were left alive, some fled from the country, some 
threw themselves upon their more eastern neigh- 
bours, and the rest huddled together in small stockade 
fortifications. The eyes and the prayers of all were 
directed to Colonel Washington; whose delicate and 
embarrassing situation can only be described in his 
own warm and energetic language. ' I see their 
situation, (he writes to the lieutenant-governor,) I 
know their danger, and participate their sufferings, 
without having it in my power to give them further 
relief than uncertain promises. In short, I see inevi- 
table destruction in so clear a light, that, unless vigor- 
ous measures are taken by the assembly, and speedy 
assistance sent from below, the poor inhabitants now in 
forts must unavoidably fall, while the remainder are 
flying before the barbarous foe. In fine, the melan- 
choly situation of the people, the little prospect of as- 
sistance, the gross and scandalous abuses cast upon 



210 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VUI. 

the officers in general^ which is reflecting on me in 
particular for suffering misconduct of such extraor- 
dinary kind, and the distant prospect, if any, of gain- 
ing reputation in the service; cause me to lament the 
hour that gave me a commission, and v^^ould induce 
me, at any other time than this of imminent danger, 
to resign, without one hesitating moment, a command, 
from which I never expect to reap either honour or 
benefit: but, on the contrary, have almost an absolute 
certainty of incurring displeasure below, while the 
murder of helpless families may be laid to my account 
here.' And he adds, ' the supplicating tears of the 
women, and moving petitions of the men, melt me 
with such deadly sorrow, that I solemnly declare, if 
I know my own mind, I could offer myself a willing 
sacrifice to the butchering enemy: provided that would 
contribute to the people's ease.' 

Such representations as these, at length, induced 
the assembly to resolve, that the Virginia regiment 
should be increased to fifteen hundred men; and that 
the militia should be drafted or conscribed to fill up 
the number. In an address to the speaker, Colonel 
Washington insisted, that it would be impossible to 
defend so extensive a frontier, with short of two thou- 
sand men; that the woods seemed to be ' alive with 
French and Indians;' and that, as the inhabitants had 
already been driven over the North IMountain, near 



CHAP. VIII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 241 

• 

Winchester, so Blue Ridge must shortly become the 
western boundary, unless the legislature would supply 
him with more numerous reinforcements. One half 
of the militia in the neighbouring counties were then 
ordered out; and a company of one hundred gentle- 
men volunteers, was organized by Mr. Peyton Ran- 
dolph, the attorney-general. Express vainly followed 
express, to bring the militia upon the ground, in season: 
the enemy re-crossed the mountains again, about the 
last of April; and, just at the time when they were 
not needed, the troops began to make their appear- 
ance. By the recommendation of Colonel Washing- 
ton, a part of this breathing-time was occupied in 
erecting a fort at Winchester, — and in re-modelling 
the military laws of the colony. At first, the most 
serious offences were scarcely punishable at all; and, 
even though the assembly now went so far as to make 
desertion and mutiny capital, they still permitted a 
soldier to fly before the enemy, or to sleep on his post, 
with impunity. But the most ruinous part of the 
system, was, that no court-martial could be called, 
without an order from the governor; and that the 
conmiander in chief could take no measure of im- 
portance, without submitting it to the ratification of 
the assembly. The soldiers received but eight pence 
a day; or, rather, only six pence; for two pence were 
stopped for their clothes. After such specimens of 

Hh 



M2 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VUi. 

legi lation, can we wonder, that, as late as the fall of 
the ypar, he i eghnent did not aniount to one thousand 
men? That the house of burgesses should think 
fifteen hundred men, even if raised, could adequately 
d«'fen a frontier of four hundred miles? And that, 
when they were solicited for permission to withdraw 
the garrison from Fort Cumberland, atWells^ Creek, 
because it was distant from the line of defence and 
required a great number of soldiers, — they answered, 
that the place must not be abandoned, because it was 
*a king's fort?' 

Nor was this all. After the campaign of 1156. 
Colonel Washington visited, in person, the south- 
western frontier; and the result of his observations is 
sufficient to do away all our surprise, that Virginia 
could not better defend herself against the inroads and 
ravages of the French and their allies. He set out from 
Fort Trial, on Smith's River, with a guard of thirty 
men; though he tells us, it was only 'by the protec- 
tion of Providence,^ and not by any services of these 
'hooping, hallooing, gentlemen soldiers,^ that he was 
enabled to perform the tour, without falling into the 
hands of the enemy. One-third of the militia had 
been ordered to be on duty at a time: hardly one- 
thirtieth were actually in the field; and even this 
thirtieth ' would come and go when they pleased,' 
without regard to time, orders, or circumstances. In 



iJHAP. VIII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 243 

many instances, the companies consisted of merely the 
captain, or the lieutenant, or the ensign, with two or 
three sergeants, and six or eight men: and, let what 
would be the consequences, the moment that their 
time expired, ' they marched off,' for home. They 
were enlisted for one month: half of that period was 
lost in going and returning; and, as those from the 
neighbouring counties must be on duty some time 
before they reached their posts, double sets of men 
were frequently in pay at the same time, and for the 
same service. They considered it as ' the highest 
indignity' to have ' allowances' dealt out to them, like 
other soldiers; and, instead of carrying provisions on 
their backs, — which ' they would have starved,' rather 
than submit to, — they made a breakfast, a dinner, or 
a supper, of the first ox, or other animal, which they 
encountered. None of the forts were in a posture of 
defence: no guards were kept, 'but just when the 
enemy was absent;' and the garrisons wasted the time 
and the ammunition in firing at targets, for wagers. 
*' As we approached one of the forts, (says Washing- 
ton,) we heard a quick fire for several minutes; and, 
concluding, certainly, that they were attacked, we 
marched in the best manner to their relief; but when 
we came up we found them diverting themselves at 
marks.' To complete the picture, 'every mean in- 
dividual had his own crude notion of things, and must 



:Hh THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VIII. 

undertake to direct. If his advice was neglected, he 
thought himself shghted, abused, and injured, and to 
redress his wrongs, would depart for his home.' 

This tour served to confirm an opinion, which 
Colonel Washington had already entertained, that 
nothing would ever be done by pursuing a system of 
defensive operation; and that the only effectual way 
of securing the tranquillity of the frontiers, would be, 
by attacking the enemy in his strong hold; by striking, 
at once, at the cause of the evil, instead of endeavour- 
ing to counteract its effects. Du Q,uesne not only 
gave the French the command of all the adjacent 
country; but ensured them the friendship of all the 
neighbouring savages, and afforded a convenient 
rendezvous, for a system of irruption and plunder. 
They sallied forth; divided themselves into small par- 
ties; and were almost always able to break in upon 
the frontier settlements; snatch their booty, and be 
off, before any force could be rallied to oppose them. 
'We (says Washington) are either insensible of dan- 
ger until it breaks upon our heads; or else, through 
mistaken notions of economy, evade the expense until 
the blow is struck, and then run into an extreme of 
raising militia. These, after an age, as it were, is 
spent in assembling them, come up, make a noise for 
a time, oppress the inhabitants, and then retuin, leav- 
ing the frontiers unguarded as before. This is still 



QHAP. VIII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 24>5 

our reliance, notwithstanding former experience con- 
vinces us, if reason did not, that the French and 
Indians are watching the opportunity, when we shall 
be lulled into fatal security, and unprepared to resist 
an attack, to invade the country, and by ravaging one 
part, terrify another; that they retreat when our militia 
assemble, and repeat the stroke as soon as they are 
dispersed; that they send down parties in the inter- 
mediate time to discover our motions, procure intelli- 
gence, and sometimes to divert the troops.' At every 
©ne of these incursions, some inhabitants were killed; 
many quit the country; and Colonel Washington de- 
clares, in one of his numerous letters on this subject, 
dated in 1756, that, unless the next campaign should 
be opened with offensive operations, the settlers be- 
yond the Blue Ridge, had taken an unalterable reso- 
lution of emigrating to some other colony. 

Almost all his letters to government teemed with 
arguments and solicitations, to make the war offensive 
on their part. His zeal for such a system, amounted 
almost to enthusiasm; and he repeated, with a perse- 
verance worthy of Cato, that Da Quesne inv.st be 
destroijed. The frequency and tiie earnestness, with 
which he dwelt upon the topic, s( em to have become 
extremely vexatious to Governor Dinwiddie; who was 
a weak, and, therefore, an obstinate man; and who 
appeared to take an envious pleasure in thwarting 



2'i6 THE UxMTED STATES ©HAP. VHT. 

the hopes, and deranging the plans, of the commander 
In chief. 'Whence it arises, or why, I am truly 
ignorant, (the latter writes to a friend,) but my 
strongest representations of matters relative to the 
peace of the frontiers, are disregarded as idle and 
frivolous; my propositions and measures, as partial 
and selfish; and all my sincerest endeavours for the 
service of my country, perverted to the worst pur- 
poses. My orders arc dark, doubtful, and imcertain. 
To-day approved, to-morrow condemned; left to act 
and proceed at hazard; accountable for the conse- 
quences, and blamed without the benefit of defence.' 
'However, (he subjoins,) I am determined to bear up 
under all these embarrassments, some time longer, in 
the hope of better regulations under Lord Loudoun.' 
This hope, like the rest, was utterly disappointed. 
With all his strong and eloquent representations to 
Lord Loudoun, whom he visited, at Philadelphia, he 
could not procure more than twelve hundred troops, 
for the service of all the middle and southern colonies. 
His own government, in the mean time, was obliged 
to furnish four hundred men for the defence of South 
Carolina. The regiment for its own protection, in- 
stead of being increased to two thousand, as he had 
again and again recommended, was improvidently 
reduced to one; and, of that one, not more than a 
third ever appeared in the field. 



CHAP. VIII BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 247 

Nor were these all the mortifying circumstances, 
under which the commander in chief was obliged to 
*bear up.' In his busy application to the duties of 
his office, and the interests of the colony, he spoke, 
with sincerity and freedom, of every thing, which 
related to the conduct of the war. Mr. Dinwiddie's 
patience was, at length, exhausted; and he not only 
told Colonel Washington, that he was impertinent in 
his observations, — but accused him of being loose in 
his behaviour, and remiss in his duty. * It is with 
pleasure (he mildly answered) I receive reproof, when 
reproof is due; because no person can be readier to 
accuse me, than I am to acknowledge an error, when 
I have committed it; nor more desirous of atoning 
for a crime, when I am _ sensible of being guilty of 
one. But, on the other hand, it is with concern I 
remark, that my best endeavours lose their reward, 
and that my conduct, although I have uniformly stu- 
died to make it as unexceptionable as I could, does 
not appear to you in a favourable point of light. 
Otherwise your honour would not have accused me 
of /oose behaviour, and remissness of duly, in matters, 
where, I think, I have rather exceeded, than fallen 
short of it' In another letter, not long subsequent 
to this. Colonel Washington solicited permission to 
visit Williamsburg. Mr. Dinwiddie abruptly answered, 
that he had often been indulged, and ought not again 



248 THE UNITED STATES eHAP. VIIL 

to ask for leave of absence. He patiently rejoined, 
that, ' to give a more succinct account of affairs (on 
the frontier) than I could in writing, was the principal, 
among many other reasons, that induced me to ask 
leave to come down. It was not to enjoy a party of 
pleasure, that I asked leave of absence: I have been 
indulged with few of those, winter or summer.^ 

It was not Mr. Dinwiddie alone, who attacked the 
character of Colonel Washington. His other ene- 
mies (for such a man, of course, had enemies) pre- 
termitted no opportunity to belie and traduce him; 
and, on one occasion, he received from the governor 
an envious and cowardly paper, which had been cir- 
culated at the seat of government; charging him with 
unskilfulness in the peiforniance of his military du- 
ties, and with wilful misrepresentation, in his ac- 
counts of affairs on the frontiers. That he had 
sounded no false alarms, on the latter subject, ap- 
peared from what was, as he says, a 'well known 
•^fact,' that the inhabitants had, almost to a man, for- 
saken their dwellings, and either fled to Carolina, or 
taken refuge in the neighbouring forts. 'And (he 
asks) did I ever send any alarming account, without 
sending, also, the original papers, or the copies, which 
gave rise to it.^' 

' That I have foibles, (he continues,) and perhaps 
many of them, I shall not deny; I should esteem my- 



CHAP. Vlir. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 249 

self, as the world also would, vain and empty, were I 
to arrogate perfection, 

' Knowledge, in military matters, is to be acquired 
hy practice and experience only; and, if I have erred, 
great allowance should be made for my errors, for 
want of them; unless those errors should appear to 
be wilful; and then, I conceive, it would be more ge- 
nerous to charge me with my faults, and let me stand 
or fall, according to evidence, than to stigmatize me 
behind my back. 

' It is uncertain in what light my services may 
have appeared to your honour: but this I know, and 
it is the highest consolation I am capable of feehng, 
that no man, that ever was employed in a public ca- 
pacity, has endeavoured to discharge the trust re- 
posed in him, with greater honesty, and more zeal for 
the country's interest, than I have done: and if there 
is any person living, who can say, with justice, that 
I have done any intentional wrong to the public, I 
will cheerfully submit to the most ignominious pu- 
nishment that an injured people ought to inflict. On 
the other hand, it is hard to have my character 
arraigned, and my actions condemned, without a 
Jiearing. 

' I must, therefore, again beg, in more plain, and 
very earnest terms, to know if **** has taken the 
liberty of representing my conduct to your honour, 



1 I 



250 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VIIL 

with such ungentlemanly freedom as the letter im- 
phes? Your condescension herein will be acknow- 
ledged as a singular favour.' 

Mr. Dinwiddle left the colony, a short time after 
this; and, along with him, went all that disagreement 
and calumniation, of which he, and men like him, — 
too indolent themselves to engage in active public 
service, and yet ambitious enough to envy those who 
do, — had ever been the ready promoters. Colonel 
Washington was gratified to find, that his friend, Mr. 
Blair, had succeeded to the office of governor: and he 
was, shortly after, still more pleased to learn, that an 
expedition was meditated against Fort Du (^uesne. 
He did not fail to urge the necessity of immediate 
operations; and he was the more anxious to prevent 
delay, because it would inevitably be the means of 
losing a body of seven hundred Indians, who had 
assembled at Winchester. But, like all his former 
advice, on the same subject, his present suggestions 
were not, perhaps they could not be, followed. The 
enemy had another opportunity to overrun and devas- 
tate the country. The Virginia regiment was, at 
length, ordered to assemble at Winchester; but it 
came destitute of every thing necessary for a cam- 
paign; and, in the mean time, the friendly Indians, as 
had been foretold, lost the little patience, which they 
possessed, and had departed for home. The Virginia 



CHAP. VIII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 251 

ti'oops were ordered to Fort Cumberland, in the be- 
ginning of July; and, late in the same month, Colonel 
Bouquet requested an interview with Colonel Wash- 
ington, on the subject of opening a new road from 
Raystown to Du Quesne. A wilder project could not 
have entered his thoughts. The road of General 
Braddock was originally selected, by the Indians: it 
had been opened by the Ohio Company, in 1753; was 
repaired, for a considerable distance, by Colonel 
Washington, in 1754; and had been widened, and 
still more improved, by General Braddock, in 1755. 
A new road would occupy nearly the whole cam- 
paign; and, even when finished, must be less commo- 
dious, though, perhaps, a little shorter, than the old. 
The colonies, besides, had nearly exhausted the re- 
sources of the Virginians, for this expedition: they 
looked upon it as the collected and final effort to rid 
themselves of their calamities; and, if the season 
should be wasted, without striking the meditated blow 
at Du Q,uesne, the only effect of their extraordinary 
exertions, would be, to render them still more de- 
fenceless and unprotected; at the same time, that the 
audacity of the French, and the contempt of the In- 
dians, would be proportion ably increased. Yet, in 
spite of all these obvious and conclusive objections. 
Colonel Washington writes to the aid o{ General 
Forbes, that he found Bouquet ^unalterably fixed' 



252 THE UNITED STATES CHAP. MIL 

upon cutting the new road: and he adds, if the 
general accedes to the proposition, ' all is lost! all is 
lost indeed! our enterprise is ruined, and we shall be 
stopped at Laurel Hill, this winter — but not to gather 
laurels/ 

This prediction was, in a great measure, fulfilled. 
Although two hundred men were set to work on the 
road, about nine weeks were occupied in constructing 
thirty-five miles; and, notwithstanding the certain 
intelligence, which was at one time received, that 
there were only eight hundred French, and half as 
many Indians, at Fort Du (iuesne, the English com- 
mander still adhered to the resolution of delaying the 
attack, till the troops could march by his own way. 
* See, (says Colonel Washington, in a letter to the 
speaker of the assembly,) see how our time has been 
misspent — behold how the golden opportunity is lost— 
perhaps never more to be regained! How is it to be 
accounted for.-^ Can General Forbes have orders for 
this? Impossible. Will, then, our injured country 
pass by such abuses.^ I hope not: rather let a full 
representation of the matter go to his majesty: let him 
know how grossly his glory and interests, and the 
public money, have been prostituted.' In another 
part of the same letter, he eloquently depictures the 
efifect of this dilatoriness upon the spirits and disci- 
pline of the army. ' We are still encamped here, (at 



CHAP. VIII. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 253 

Fort Cumberland^ says he,) very sickly, and dispirited 
at the prospect before us. That appearance of glory, 
V. hich we once had in view — that hope — that laud- 
able ambition of serving our country, and meriting its 
applause, are now no more; all is dwindled into ease, 
sloth, and inactivity. In a word, all is lost, if the Vv'ays 
of men in power, like certain ways of Providence, 
are not inscrutable. But we, who view the actions of 
great men at a distance, (he adds, in a strain of deli- 
cate irony,) can only form conjectures, agreeably to a 
limited perception; and, being ignorant of the com- 
prehensive schemes which may be in contemplation, 
might mistake egregiously, in judging of things from 
appearances, or by the lump. Yet every fool will 
have his notions — will prattle and talk away; and why 
may not I.'^ We seem, then, in my opinion, to act 
under the guidance of an evil genius. The conduct 
of our leaders, if not actuated by superior orders, is 
tempered with something — I do not care to give a 
name to. Nothing now but a miracle can bring this 
campaign to a happy issue.^ 

It ivas brought to a happy issue, without the inter- 
position of a miracle; though the English general had 
certainly done his best, to make it terminate in disas- 
ter. Late in October, Major Grant was sent forward 
with a body of eight hundred men. He succeeded 
in drawing the enemy from the fort; and, after an 



264} THE UNITED STATES CHAP. VIII. 

obstinate engagement, was defeated, with the loss of 
two hundred and seventy-five killed, and forty-two 
wounded. The general called upon all the colonel*, 
to give him a plan for marching the whole army from 
Raystown. Whose plan he followed, we are not told; 
but it was the 5th of November, before the army 
reached Loyal Hanna, forty-five miles from Raystown; 
and it had been determined, in a council of war, to 
relinquish the further prosecution of the campaign; — 
when some deserters brought the intelligence, that the 
French had been abandoned by the Indians; and that, 
being cut off from reinforcements and supphes through 
Canada, by the success of the English fleet and ar- 
mies, in the north, they must fall an easy prey to any 
respectable force. Colonel Washington was entrusted 
with the arduous duty of opening the way for the 
main army: and we have already related, that the 
enemy did not await an attack. Colonel Washington 
returned to Williamsburg; and took his seat in the 
assembly, as a representative for the county of Frede- 
rick.* His commission was resigned; and he soon 
after married the widow of Mr. Custis, a lady to 
whom he had been long attached; and who possessed 
every qualification, both of fortune and of person, to 
ensure him the enjoyment of domestic felicity. 

We cannot better close this chapter, than by 

* Sec Note (T). 



CHAP. Vlir. BEFORE THE REVOLUTION. 255 

extracting a part of the address, which Colonel Wash- 
ington received from his officers, on the occasion of 
his resigning the connmand of the Virginia regiment. 
It has an air of truth and of affection, which distin- 
guishes it from all other papers of the same sort; and 
we have little doubt, that, as it was written by those 
who had lived and acted with him, daring all the 
trying events of the war, it contains the only faithful 
picture, which could be drawn, of his early character 
and habits. 

* In our earliest infancy (say they) you took us 
under your tuition, trained us up in the practice of 
that discipline, which alone can constitute good 
troops; from the punctual observance of which you 
never suffered the least deviation. 

^ Your steady adherence to impartial justice, your 
quick discernment, and invariable regard to merit, 
wisely intended to inculcate those genuine sentiments 
of honour, and passion for glory, from which the 
greatest military achievements have been derived, 
first heightened our mutual emulation, and desire to 
excel. How much we improved, by those regulations, 
and your own example; with what alacrity we have 
hitherto discharged our duty; with what cheerfulness 
we have encountered the severest toils, especially 
while under your particular directions: we submit to 



256 THE UNITED STATES;, SlC. CHAP. VHI. 

yourself, and flatter ourselves that we have, in a great 
measure, answered your expectations. 

'Judge, then, how sensibly we must be affected, 
with the loss of such an excellent commander, such 
a sincere friend, and so aflable a companion. How 
rare is it to find those amiable qualifications blended 
together in one man! How great the loss of such a 
man! Adieu to that superiority, which the enemy 
have granted us over other troops, and which even 
the regulars and provincials have done us the honour 
publicly to acknowledge! Adieu to that strict disci- 
pline and order, which you have always maintained! 
Adieu to that happy union and harmony, which have 
been our principal cement! 

' It gives us additional sorrow, when we reflect, to 
find our unhappy country will receive a loss, no less 
irreparable than our own. Where will it meet a 
man, so experienced in military affairs.^ One so re- 
nowned for patriotism, conduct, and courage? Who 
has so great a knowledge of the enemy we have to deal 
with? Who so well acquainted with their knowledge 
and strength? Who so much respected by the sol- 
diery? Who, in short, so able to support the military 
character of Virginia?' 



NOTES. 



NOTE (A). P. 1. 

1 HE question of Columbus' birth place has been agitated more 
than three centuries; and it is but a few years, since the subject 
called forth one prolix volume from the academy of Turin, and 
another, from that of Genoa. Columbus himself seems to have 
studied to keep the place a secret; and it is somewhat remarkable, 
that his own son, who has written his life, and who was sixteen 
years old, at his death, should have been so negligent as not to 
ask the question, or so unsuccessful as to obtain no answer. 
Piedmont, Placentia, Genoa, Savoy, and Laguria, have all been 
ready to claim the discoverer of the New World; but, with the 
exception of Genoa, their claims have little to support them. 
In his will, dated in 1494, Columbus describes himself as a 
Genoese: and an expression in the life by his son, is supposed 
to prove, that, if any of these countries was the place, it must 
have been Genoa. ' Some persons,' says he, ' would have him 
essay to trace the admiral's descent from noble blood, but that 
he refrained therefrom, — believing that our Lord, who had elect- 
ed him for so great a work as the one he did accomplish, and 
appointed him his chosen apostle, whom he had called from the 
seas and rivers, and not from high places and palaces, to make 
known his name to the nations.' 

Kk 



^58 rsOTES. 

It has been said, that Henry VII. gave no encouragement to 
Bartholomew Columbus; and that his discouraging answer was 
communicated to Christopher, before he applied to the court of 
Castile. But it appears from the life by Don Ferdinand, his 
son, that the king of England at once yielded to the proposal; 
and that the admiral did not hear from his brother, until after 
he had performed his second voyage. ' But to return to the 
king of England, I say, that after he had seen the map, and that 
which my father, Christopher Columbus, offered unto him, he 
accepted the offer with joyful countenance, and sent to call him 
into England. But because God had reserved the said offer for 
Castile, Columbus was gone in the mean space, and also re- 
turned with the performance of his enterprise.' This life of, 
Columbus is extremely scarce; and we have taken our translation 
from Hackluyt's Travels, pt. iii. p. 508. 

Just before Columbus arrived at Lisbon, on his return from 
the first voyage, he experienced a very dangerous storm; and, 
fearing that he might be cast away in such another, while sail- 
ing to Palos, the seat of the Spanish government, he addressed 
a letter to Don Raphael Sanzio, the king's treasurer; in which 
he gives a cursory account of his discoveries. Till within a 
short time, this precious document was very rare; and even Dr. 
Robertson, who is called ' the most diligent of mankind,' appears 
to have been ignorant of its existence. The English reader is 
indebted for it to the Edinburgh Review; the conductors of which 
have given us an account of the only copies, that are known to 
exist. The most ancient, — the one, from which they made a 
translation, — was printed in 1493, and is in the Brera library, at 
Milan. Three are in the French king's library, at Paris, dated 
1494. Another is found in a volume published at Bazil, in 1533. 



NOTES. ^59 

and it was next inserted in the Ilispania Illustrata^ published 
at Frankfort, in 1603. The seventh is in the Magleabechi 
library, at Florence; and the eighth, in the Casanata library, at 
Rome. It is of considerable length; and, instead of being filled 
with wild and incredible stories, contains a pertinent, business- 
like account of what had been discovered, and every where 
speaks the good sense, acuteness, and humanity of the writer. It 
is such an account as may be depended upon; and we shall make 
no apology for laying a part of it before our readers. 

' Of this island, (Hispana says he,) and of all the others 
which I have seen or obtained any knowledge of, the inhabit- 
ants go naked, both sexes alike, just as they were born; except 
that some of the women have a leaf, or some sort of cotton 
-covering, which they themselves prepare for that pui-pose, 
about their middles. As I have already said, all these people 
are entirely without iron of any sort. They are also without 
arms, of which they know not the vise, and indeed would be ill 
adapted to make use of them ; not from any bodily defects, for 
they are well formed, but because they are so remarkably thnid 
and fearful. The only kind of arms they possess are canes 
parched in the sun, on the roots of which they fix a sort of 
spear-headof dry wood, sharpened into a point: yet these they 
do not often dare to use ; for it frequently happened when I 
had sent two or three of my men to some of the villages, that 
they might have communication with the inhabitants, a whole 
body of Indians would come out: but no sooner did they see 
our men approach, than off they set; parents deserting their 
children, and children their parents, without any scruple. Nor 
was this owing to any violence on my part, as I was particulai'Iy 
anxious that they should meet with no injury; — on the contra- 
ry, among whatever people I landed, or whom I could bring to 



260 NOTES, 

a conference, I always imparted to them, in quantities, what- 
ever I happened to have, — such as clothes, and many other 
things, nor took any thing- from them in return. But they 
are by nature of a very timid disposition. Whenever they 
know themselves to be in safety, however, and get over their 
fears, they are an uncommonly simple and honest people; 
very liberal in bestowing whatever they possess. They never 
refuse a request ; nay, they themselves invited us to make 
demands of them. They have in truth the show of the greatest 
good will to all : they give things of great value for what is of 
scarce any; and are, indeed, content with very little or nothing 
in exchange. I however made a point that they should not be 
imposed upon by the very trifling and worthless articles which 
were apt to be given them,— such as broken bits of earthen 
ware, or of glass, — likewise nails; although the truth is, if tliey 
might but obtain these, they thought themselves possessed of 
the most beautiful ornaments in the world. A sailor, on one 
occasion, got for one nail as great a weight of gold as would 
have made three golden nobles : and in the same way for other 
articles of still less value, they gave whatever the purchaser was 
inclined to ask them. But because I felt this to be an unjust 
species of traffic, I forbid it ; and gave them many useful and 
beautiful articles which I had brought along Avitli me, Avithout 
any return being asked ; that I .might render them more friendly 
to me, — that I might gain them over to the Chi'istian faith. 
They have no idolatry amongst them ; but seem to have a firm 
persuasion, that all force, power, and all good things come from 
Heaven,— from whence, indeed, they imagined tliati had come 
down with my ships and sailors. 

' In all these islands, according to my infonnation, no man 
has more than one wife, except the chiefs and kings, who may 
have as manv as twcntv. The women seem to work more thaji 



NOTES. 261 

the men; and I have not been able to discover, whether there 
is any such thing as separate property ; for I have always seen 
these people impart to each other whatever they had, parti- 
cularly food, and things of that sort. I found no ministers 
among them, as some have imagined, but every where men of 
very estimable and benign aspect. Neither are they black like 
the Africans: their hair is smooth and long.' 

Edin. Rev. vol. xxvii. p. 505. et seq. 



NOTE (B). P. 14. 

Captain Smith was born in England, in 1597. At the age 
of thirteen, he sold his school books and sachel, to equip him- 
self for sea. His plot was discovered; and, instead of going 
before the mast, he was put behind the counter. He ran from 
his master at fifteen; and, after travelling for some time, on the 
continent, returned to England, and betook himself to the study 
of history and military tactics. Setting out again upon his tra- 
vels, he embarked, at Marseilles, for Italy; but a tempest obliged 
the ship to anchor off Nice; and Smith's companions, who were 
pilgrims, attributing the storm to his presence, cast him into the 
sea. He swam ashore; went to Alexandria; and, entering the 
Austrian service against the Turks, soon displayed himself to so 
piuch advantage, that the emperor put him at the head of two 
hundred and fifty horsemen. At the siege of Regal, Lord Thur- 
blsha sent a message to the army, that, for the diversion of the 
ladies, he would fight any Christian soldier, who might accept 
his challenge. Smith rode forth: the ladies stood on the battle- 
ments: the champions met; and Smith soon bore away the head 



2i}2 iNOTES. 

of his antagonist. Another, and a third, challenge were sent; 
and Smith served all the three champions in the same manner. 
He was, at length, taken prisoner; but, killing his master, he 
escaped to Russia; whence he returned to England; and, hav- 
ing succeeded but ill in the Old World, determined to try his 
fortune in the New. He was not very fastidious in his means 
of forcing the Indians to pay tribute, or of keeping his own 
people in subjection. He stole 0/cee, the god of the aborigines; 
and, when they came to reclaim him, compelled them to bring 
his ransom, in large quantities of Indian corn. The great part 
of the settlers had emigrated, in the hope of making a fortune, 
without toil; and, as they now found themselves obliged to 
blister their hands with work, their impatience often exploded 
in an oath. Smith caused every oath to be noted; and, at night, 
a can of water, for each, was poured into the blasphemer's 
sleeve. 

In the history of De Soto's expedition, there is a parallel to 
the adventure with Pocahontas. John Ortez, of Seville, in 
Spain, having sailed with Pamphilio de Narvaez, in 1527, was 
afterwards sent back to this country in a brigantine. The abo- 
rigines enticed him and another to come on shore; and, with 
their usual good faith, seized them both, and killed the latter. 
^ Veita (the king) commanded them to bind John Ortez, head 
and foot, upon four stakes, aloft upon a loft, and to make a fire 
under him, that there he might be burned: but a daughter of his 
desired him that he would not put him to death, alleging, that 
one only Christian could do him neither hurt or good; telling 
him, it was more for his honour to keep him as a captive. And 
Veita granted her request, and commanded him to be cured of 
liis wounds.' For a time, he was treated with great kind- 



NOTES. 263 

ness; but, at length, losing the favour of the king, he was 
about to be sacrificed to the evil spirit, — when his good genius 
again contrived to save his life. ' John Ortez,' says the histo- 
rian, ' had notice, by the damsel that had delivered him from 
the fire, how her father was determined to sacrifice him, the day 
following, who willed him to flee to Macoco, (a neighbouring 
king,) for she knew that he would use him well: for she heard 
say, that he had asked for him, and said he would be glad to 
see him: and, because he knew not the way, she went with 
him a half a league out of town, by night, and set him in the 
way, and returned, because she would not be discovered.' 

De Soto, pp. 23, 23. 



NOTE (C). P. 15. 

There raged, at this period, and for a long time after, a 
sort of epidemic notion, that the whole hemisphere of America 
was pregnant with gold and silver. The infatuation extended 
even to the sober colonists of Connecticut. In 1712, two cop- 
per mines were discovered; one at Simsbury, the other at Wal- 
lingford; and, conceiving, that the copper ore might contain the. 
more precious metals, the proprietors obtained, from the general 
court, an act, which exempted the miners from military duty, 
for four years. Two other acts were subsequently passed, to 
promote the same object; but, after excavating the mine at 
Simsbury, for more than a dozen years, the proprietors despaired 
of finding gold or silver: the project was abandoned; and the 
immense cavity, which had been dug, was turned into a New- 
gate. We shall here extract a curious passage from Trum- 



264 NOTES. 

bull's History of Connecticut; which, if true, may serve to 
cool the ardour of any such persons as still expect to amass for- 
tunes, by working mines in North America. 

' Though mines of gold, silver, precious metals and mine- 
rals have been esteemed of great value, and sought after w^ith 
great pains and expectations, yet they are by no means s© 
enriching as is generally imagined. The rich mines of the 
south, vi^ere men hired to dig, refine, and go through the vari- 
ous operations necessary to produce gold and silver coins, at 
the Visages commonly given in this country, would not bear 
the expense. President Clap, (of Yale College,) w^ho w^ell un- 
derstood the history of this business, and v^^as an accurate 
computer of expenses, observed, that, if the king of Spain w^ere 
to give his workmen in the mining and refining business, the 
moderate wages of six pence sterling a day, it would break him. 
It was because the business was principally done by slaves and 
convicts, to whom he gave no wages, and whom he but miser- 
ably clothed and fed, that he made such profits by them. 
Mines of coarser metals than those of gold and silver, are often 
the most profitable, because they are much more abundant in 
the ores which they contain, and they are prepared for use at 
a far less expense. For these reasons, mines of copper, or lead, 
may yield as great or greater profits than those of gold and sil- 
ver.' Trumb. Hist. 1818. vol. i. pp. 45-6. 



NOTE (D). P. 21. 

It is still a qiuestio vexata, whether Sir Walter Raleigh, or 
Sir Francis Drake, first introduced tobacco into England. Iij 
France, we are told, it was named Nicotiana, after one John 



NOTES. 265 

Nicotla, who was the French ambassador to Lusitanla, in 1559^ 
and enjoys the undisputed distinction of having brought it 
thence into his master's dominions. In England, it was gene- 
rally called by the name of the place where it grew. Trinidado 
was once the most celebrated; but it seems not to have equalled 
the produce of Tobago; and the name of that little island has, 
at length, swallowed up all others. 

Many grave treatises have been written upon the virtues of 
tobacco; and it was once supposed, that there is no disease 
incident to the human frame, for which it did not constitute a 
sovereign remedy. But it had its enemies, as well as its 
friends. In England, particularly, it was considered as the 
rankest of all poisons; and many seemed to think, that the fate 
of the kingdom depended upon its extirpation. Among its most 
determined enemies, was King James I.; who, forgetting that 
mankind have derived from their first parents an unconquerable 
appetite for a thing forbidden, undertook to stop the use of it, by 
a species of persecution. He could not even take a journey of 
pleasure, without waging war upon what he considered as the 
root of all evil; and, when at Oxford, in 1605, he seriously 
proposed the question, and sat as moderator while it was dis- 
cussed — Utrum frequens siiffitus J\^icotian(B exoticae, sit sards 
saliitaris'?*' 

Nor was this the end of his extravagance. He published a 
book upon the subject; and, of all the works, which his ambi- 
tion of literature induced him to write, perhaps the Counterblast 

* We believe, the only diseases, for which tobacco is now used as a 
remedy, are tetanus and incarcerated hernia. It has been tried in hydro- 
phobia; but did not prove a cure, 

I. I 



266 NOTES. 

to Tobacco will gave him the best title to the name of author. 
He was a great zealot for the divine right of kings; but, what- 
ever might have been the sanctity of his character, he could 
use as sublunary language as almost any mere mortal. His 
introductory blast is as follows: — 

' Tobacco being a common herb, which (though under di- 
vers names) grows almost every where, was fii'st found out by 
some of the barbarous Indians, to be a preservative or antidote 
against a filthy disease, whereunto these people are, as all men 
know, very subject, what through the uncleanly and adust con- 
stitution of their bodies, and what through the intemperate heat 
of their climate : so that as from them we first brought into 
Christendom, that most detestable disease, so from tliem also 
was brought this use of tobacco.' 

' And now, good countrymen, let us (I pray you) consider 
what honour or policy can move us to imitate the barbarous 
and beastly manners, of the wild, godless, and slavish Indians, 
especially in so vile and stinking a custom ? Shall we that dis- 
dain to imitate the manners of our neighbour France, (having 
the style of the first christian kingdom,) and that cannot endure 
the spirit of the Spaniards, (their king being now comparable 
in largeness of dominions, to the great emperor of Turkey,) 
shall we, I say, that have been so long civil and wealthy in 
peace, famous and invincible in war, fortunate in both ; we that 
have been ever able to aid any of our neighbours, (but never 
deafened any of their ears with any of our supplications for as- 
sistance,) shall we, I say, without blushing abuse ourselves so 
far, as to imitate these beastly Indians, slaves to the Spaniards, 
refuse to the world, and as yet aliens from the holy covenant 
of God? Why do we not as well imitate them in walking naked 
as they do ? in preferring glasses, feathers, and such toys, to 



NOTES. 261 

gold, and precious stones, as they do ? Why do we not deny 
God and adore the Devil, as they do?' 

Works o/KiNG James, pp. 214-215, 

After a few more denunciations, in the same strain, the 
divine author proceeds to disprove the reasoning of his antago- 
nists. ' First, it is thought by you, (says he,) a sure aphorism 
in physics, that the brains of all men, being naturally cold and 
wet, all dry and hot things should be good for them; of which 
nature this stinking suffumigation is.' To show the utter falsity 
of this notion, the king lays it down, as a postulate, that 'man 
is compounded of the four complexions, whose fathers are the 
four elements;' and, having reasoned over a page, from these 
premises, he enters upon the discussion of the main question, 
under four distinct heads: — ' two founded upon the theorick of a 
deceivable appearance of reason, and two of them upon the mis- 
taken practick of general experience.' We cannot pretend to 
follow the royal dialectician through all the developments of his 
subject. One or two passages must suffice: — 

' Such,' says he, ' is the miraculous omnipotence of our 
strong tasted tobacco, as it cures all sorts of diseases in all per- 
sons, and at all times. It cures the gout in the feet, and in the 
very instant when the smoke thereof, as light, flies up into the 
head, the virtue thereof, as heavy, runs down into the little toe.* 

* There is scarcely an author of the age of James, who does not men- 
tion tobacco; and, in Every ^fan in his Humour, Ben Jonson introduces 
Bobadil and Cob as the respective champions for and against its remedial 
efficacy. 

' Bob. Sir, believe me, upon my relation, for what I tell you this world 
shall not reprove. I have been in the Indies, where this herb grows, 
where with myself, nor a dozen gentlemen more of my knowledge have 
received the taste of any other nutriment in the world, for the space of 



268 NOTES. 

O omnipotent tobacco ! And if it could by the smoke thereof 
chase out devils, as the smoke of Tobias' fish did, (which I am 
sure could be made no sti'onglier,) it would serve for a precious 
relick, both for the superstitious priests, the insolent puritans, 
to cast out devils withal.' Works, pp. 219-20. 

' I read, indeed,' says the king, in another place, ' of a knavish 
courtier, who, for abusing the favour of the Emperor Alexander 
Severus, his master, by taking bribes to intercede, for sundry 
prisoners, in his majesty's ear, (for whom he never once open- 
ed his mouth,) Avas justly choked with smoke, with this doom, 

one and twenty weeks, but the fume of this simple only : therefore, it 
cannot be, but 'tis most divine. Further,. take it in the nature, in the true 
kind ; so, it makes an antidote, that, had you taken the most deadly poison- 
ous plant in all Italy, it should expel it, and clarify you with as much ease 
as I speak. And, for your green wound, — your balsam-urn and your St. 
John's wort, are all mere gulleries and trash to it, especially your Ti-inida- 
do : your Nicotian is good too. I could say what I know of the virtue of it 
for the expulsion of rheums, raw humours, crudities, obstructions, with a 
thousand of this kind : but I profess myself no quacksalver, only thus 
much ; by Hercules, I do hold it, and will affirm it before any prince in 
Europe, to be the most sovereign and precious weed that ever the earth 
tendered to the use of man.' 

« Cob. Odds me, I marvel what pleasure or felicity they have in taking 
this roguish tobacco. Its good for nothing but to choke a man, and fill him 
full of smoke and embers : there were four died out of one house last week 
with taking of it, and two more the bell went for yesternight : one of them, 
they say, will never scape it : he voided a bushel of soot yesterday, upward 
and downward. By the stocks, an there were no wiser men than I, I'd 
have it present whipping, man or woman, that should but deal with a to- 
bacco-pipe : why, it will stifle them all in the end, as many as use it ; its 
little better than ratsbane or rosaken. [JJobadil beats /lim.]' 

Giffobd's Ben Jonson, vol. i. pp. 88-91. 

The Counterblast contains a passage nearly as extravagant as the ana- 
thema of Cob. 



NOTES. 269 

fiuno pereat, qui fumum vendidit: but of so many smoke buy- 
ers, as are at the pi'esent in this kingdom, I never read or heard.' 

Works, Y>- '221. 

It is almost impossible for a modern to conceive the extent, 
to which the use of tobacco prevailed, when it first came into 
fashion. 'No, (says King James,) it is become, in place of 
cure, a point of good fellowship; and he that will refuse to take 
a pipe of tobacco among his fellows,' is accounted a rude mis- 
anthrope. Again, 'in your persons, (says he,) you have, by 
this continual vile custom, been reduced to this shameful imbe- 
cility, that you are not able to ride or walk the journey of a 
Jew's sabbath, but you mwst have a reekie to be brought vuu 
from the next poor house, to kindle your tobacco with.' Even 
in the reign of Queen Anne, the misses took snuff, and the old 
ladies chewed or smoked tobacco. Swift, in his letters to Miss 
Johnson and Mrs. Dingley, often mentions the subject of theU' 
using snuff; and speaks of sending Brazil tobacco to the latter, 
as if, like tea or chocolate, it was a matter of course. ' I have 
(says he) the finest piece of Brazil tobacco for Dingley that 
ever was born;' and, again, 'I have made Delaval promise to 
send me some Brazil tobacco from Portugal, for you, Madam 
Dingley.'* 

King James winds up his Counterblast in the following 
words: — 

' A custom loathsome to the eye, hateful to the nose, harm- 
Tul to the brain, dangerous to the lungs, and in the black stink- 
ing fume thereof, nearest resembling the horrible Stygian smoke 
of the pit that is bottomless.' Works, p. 222. 

; Works, by Scott^ vol, ii. pp. 25. 96 ; and in other places. 



270 NOTES. 

We know not, that any legislative measures were ever taken 
in England, to prevent the use of tobacco; but, in the colony of 
Connecticut, it was thought expedient to pass an express law 
upon the subject. 

'As tobacco, about this time,' (1647,) says Mr. Trumbull, 
* was coming into use, a very curious law was made for its re- 
gulation or suppression. It Avas ordered that no person under 
twenty years of age, nor any other, who had not already accus- 
tomed himself to it, should take any tobacco, until he had ob- 
tained a certificate from under the hand of an approved physi- 
cian, that it was useful for him, and until he had also obtained 
a license from the court. All others, who had addicted them- 
selves to the use of it, were prohibited from taking it, in any 
company, or at their labours, or in travelling, unless ten miles, 
at least, from any company ; and, though not in company, not 
more than once a day, upon pain of a fine of six pence for every 
such offence. One substantial witness was to be a sufficient 
proof of the crime. The constables of the particular towns were 
to make presentment to the particular courts, and it was order- 
ed, that the fine should be paid without gainsaying.' 

Hist, of Conn. vol. i. p. 162. 



NOTE (E). P. 23. 

This account argues a state of society so difi'erent from that 
of our own day, as to make it appear almost incredible. There 
is, however, no doubt of the fact. V/ives were shipped with the 
same indifference as any other cargo; and some person in Vir- 
ginia has recently brought to light the letter of instructions, which 
accompanied one of the shipments. It is dated August 12th. 
1621; and is in these words: — 



NOTES. ,271 

' We send you in this ship one widow and eleven maids for 
wives for the people of Virginia. There hath been especial 
care had in the choice of them, for there hath not any one of 
ihem been received, but upon good recommendations. 

* In case they cannot be presently married, Ave desire that 
they may be put in several householders that have wives, till 
they can be provided with husbands. There are near fifty more, 
which are shortly to come, are sent by our most honourable 
lord and treasurer, the Earl of Southampton, and certain worthy 
gentlemen, who taking into consideration that the plantation 
can never flourish till families be planted, and the respects of 
wives and children fix these people on the soil, therefore have 
given this fair beginning for the reimbursing those charges. It 
is ordered, that every man that marries them give one hundred 
and twenty pounds of the best leaf tobacco for each of them. 

' Though we are desirous that the marriage be free accord- 
ing to the law of nature, yet we would not have these maids 
deceived and married to servants, but only to such freentien or 
tenants as have means to maintain them. We pray you, there- 
fore, to be as fathers of them in this business, not enforcing 
them to marry against their wills.' 

The Earl of Southampton, menlioned in this letter, is distin- 
guished in literary history, as the only known patron of Shak- 
speare. He was ready on all occasions to foster genius, and 
promote improvement; and it is, perhaps, chiefly to his exertionSj 
that we owe the original settlement of this country. His life, 
which was as romantic as his spirit was liberal, may be found 
in the second volume of Drake's Shakspeare andhw Timrr 



o>7i> 



i-i NOTEls. 



NOTE I.F). P. 29. 



The history of Goffe and Whalley is almost romance. It 
was first given by Mr. Hutchinson,* from a diary kept by Goffe; 
and this brief outline was afterwards the basis of a separate vo- 
lume, by Dr. Stiles, ofNewHaven.f 

William Goffe, the son of a puritan divine, was placed with 
Mr. Vaughan, a dry-salter, in London; but, disliking trade, at 
a time when trade was of little consequence, he entered the 
army; and, attracting the notice of Cromwell, was rapidly pro- 
moted from a soldier to a general.| He enjoyed Cromwell's 
utmost confidence; assisted White in purging the commons; was 
twice returned to parliament; and, at last, made one of the pro- 
tector's lords. 

Edward Whalley was, also, raised from the merchant's coun- 
ter to the highest station in the commonwealth. He was the 
cousin of Cromwell; was entrusted by him with the custody of 

* History of Mass. vol. i. p. 215. 

f History of Three of the Judges of King Charles I. &c. Hartford, 1794. 
12mo. The mottos are from scripture. ' They wandered about — being 
desolate, afflicted, tormented — they wandered in deserts, and in mountains, 
and in dens and caves of the earth. 

'Of whom the world was unworthy.' 



' Be not forgetful to entertain strangers ; for thereby some have enter- 
tained angels unawares.' Heb. xi. 13. 

t The word grade has been ridiculed in England, as a barbarous Ameri- 
canism. President Stiles here quotes a passage from the Fasti Oxonien- 
scs, p. 79 ; which may teach the English first to pluck the mote from their 
own eyes. 'At length, through several military grades,' say the Fasti, 
' he bcf nme a colonel.' Stiles, p. 17. 



NOTES. 273 

the royal prisoner; and, having first sat with the representatives, 
was afterwards enrolled among the lords. 

It was on the 27th of July, 1660, that GofTe and Whalley 
landed at Boston. They made no secret of their names; appear- 
ed openly about the town; attended all prayer-meetings and oc- 
casional lectures; and were kindly received not only by Governor 
Endicot, — but by the great majority of the inhabitants. They 
are both said to have been expert swordsmen; and a story is still 
current in New England, whatever may be its title to credit, 
that one of them soon found occasion to display his dexterity. 

' While at Boston,' says President Stiles, ' there appeared a 
gallant person there, some say a fencing master, vi^ho, on a stage 
erected for the purpose, walked it for several days, challenging 
and defying any to play v/ith him at swords : at length one of 
the judges, disguised in a rustic dress, holding in one hand a 
cheese wrapped in a napkin, for a shield, with a broomstick, 
whose mop he had besmeared with dirty puddle water as he 
passed along : thus equipped, he mounted the stage : — the 
fencing master railed at him for his impudence, asked what 
business he had there, and bid him begone. The judge stood 
his ground ; upon which the gladiator made a pass at him with 
his sword, to drive him off: a rencounter ensued: the judge 
received the sword into the cheese, and held it till he drew the 
mop of the broom over his mouth, and gave the gentleman a 
pair of whiskers. The gentleman made another pass, and 
plunging his sword a second time, it was caught and held in the 
cheese, till the broom was drav/n over his eyes. At a third 
lounge the sword was caught again, till the mop of the bi'oom 
was rubbed gently all over his face. Upon this the gentleman 
let fall or laid aside his small swovd, and took up the broad- 
sword, and came upon him with that: upon which the judge 

M m 



274 NOTES. 

said, stop, sir, hitherto you see I have only played with you, and 
not attempted to hurt you; but, if you come at me now with the 
broad-sword, know, that I will certainly take your life. The 
firmness and dctcrminateness, with which he spake, struck the 
gentleman, who desisting, exclaimed, who can you be ? You are 
either Goffe, Whalley, or the Devil; for there was no other 
man in England that could beat me. And so the disguised 
judge retired into obscurity, leaving the spectators to enjoy the 
diversion of the scene, and the vanquishment of the boasting 
champion. Hence it is proverbial in some parts of New Eng- 
land, in speaking of a champion at athletic and other exercises, 
to say, that none can beat him but Goffe, Whalley, or the Devil.' 

Stiles, pp. 33-4. 

But the judges had soon the prospect of encountering a more 
dangerous antagonist. A cheese and a broomstick could not 
avail them against the warrant of the king's officer. They had 
left England, before Charles II. was proclaimed; and the Bosto- 
nians had received them with favour, because they supposed 
themselves safe. In November, 1660, a vessel from Barbadoes 
brought the intelligence of the coronation. Many of those, who 
had kindly protected the judges, now began to tremble for their 
own safety; and, though others still resolved to stand by men, 
whom they considered rather as unfortunate than criminal, the 
colony was not yet ripe for avowed opposition to the king; and 
our exiles deemed it best to abscond. They vanished from 
Cambridge, on the 26th of February; and appeared at New 
Haven, on the 7th of Marcli, 1661. 

The day after their arrival, the king's proclamation against 
them was received at Boston; and, on the 27th of the same 
month, was brought to New Haven. The Bostonians made a 



NOTES. 215 

fictitious search through their province; and the people of New 
Haven contrived to render a search in earnest ineffectual. Goffe 
and Whalley were received as brothers by Mr. Davenport; and 
it was doubtless by his advice, that they appeared openly at New 
Milford, on the 27th, and returned at night to his house in New 
Haven. In the latter end of April, the governor of Massachusetts 
received a royal mandate for their apprehension; and, as the 
affair could no longer be trifled with, he commissioned Thomas 
Kellond and Thomas Kirk to make a search through the colonies 
as far as Manhadoes. 

The people of New Haven received the news of this com- 
mission; and, to prepare them for the reception of the pursuers, 
Mr. Davenport preached from Isaiah xvi. 3, 4. ' Take council, 
execute judgment, make thy shadow as the night in the midst of 
the noon- day; hide the out-casts, bewry not him that wandereth. 
Let mine out-casts dwell with thee; Moab, be thou a covert to 
them from the face of the spoiler.' No royal mandate could 
prevail against a sermon from such a text; and it so happened, 
that on the very llth of May, when Kellond and Kirk arrived 
at Governor Leet's, the two judges took up their abode in a mill 
about two miles from New Haven. Governor Leet resided at 
Guilford, about eighteen miles distant. He detained the pur- 
suers at his house the whole of the 12th; and, while Magistrate 
GJilbert, in obedience to his instructions, was taking the advice 
of the town deputies on the subject of apprehending the judges, 
they had time to secrete themselves in the woods. 

On the 13th the pursuers arrived in New Haven. To give 
his conduct an appearance of activity, Magistrate Gilbert put a 
warrant into the hands of the sheriff; and he was fortunate enough 
to encounter the judges near what is called Break Neck Bridge, 



276 NOTES. 

over which the pursuers were to pass. They stood manfully 
upon their defence; kept offlhe sheriff with clubs; and, while he 
was gone for help, ran and hid under the bridge. Now, no per- 
son could secrete himself under this bridge at high water; and, 
lest some future historian should take advantage of the circum- 
stance to invalidate the story, Dr. Stiles thinks it prudent to enter 
into some calculations, which prove, beyond all question, that, 
when the judges are said to have been there, the water was low. 
The commissioners slept at Guilford on the 12th; and, as it was 
eighteen miles to New Haven, they must have arrived about 
noon the next day. ' From the astronomical or lunar tables, 
we find, says the doctor, that, on the I3th of May, 1661, the sun 
was in the second degree of Gemini, and the moon in the first 
of Aries, or about sixty degrees apart, and so about two days 
and a half after the last quarter; when it is always high water 
at New Haven about, or a little after six o'clock, and low 
water about noon.' 

As soon as it was supposed, that the search in New Haven 
was finished, and the commissioners would begin to prowl in the 
neighbourhood, the judges most probably came from their lurk- 
ing-place into the town. They were secreted for the most part 
in the houses of Mr. Davenport, Mr. Jones, and Mrs. Eyers; 
' a small, plump, round woman, a worthy character;' who used 
to hide them in a large wainscotted closet, which, when the door 
was shut, could not be distinguished from the ceiling. It is 
probable, that the commissioners re-commenced their search in 
town on the 14th. When Mrs. Eyers saw their red coats ap- 
proaching her house, she devised an expedient to get rid of them, 
which, while she supposed it might screen her from the guilt of 
prevarication, would effectually ensure the safety of her guests. 



NOTES. 211 

If she hid them in the closet, how could she say, they were 
not in her house? But, if she told them to go out of the back 
door, and return, after a few steps, could she not safely an- 
swer, that they had been there, — but had gone away? This 
reasoning was, at any rate, sufficient to satisfy Mrs. Eyers; and, 
when the officers entered her house, ' she put them upon a false 
scent, and secured her friends.' 

New Haven, at this time, contained only one hundred or one 
hundred and twenty houses: the environs were a complete wil- 
derness; and, with the exception of Derby or Paugasset, there 
were but two houses between what is called West Rock and Hud- 
son's River. West Rock, so called to distinguish it from East 
Rock, is a perpendicular bluff, about three hundred feet high, at 
the distance of two miles and a half north-west of the town. It is 
the abrupt termination of a chain of hills, running nearly north 
and south. A Mr. Sperry owned a farm upon its western base; 
and it was at his house, that the judges were secreted, after the 
adventure at Mrs. Eyers'. Persuaded, however, that they could 
not escape the commissioners, even here, they resolved to bury 
themselves in a cave, on the west side of the rock. 

' There is a notch,' says our author, ' in the mountain against 
Joseph (Sperry)'s house, through which I ascended along a 
very steep acclivity up to the cave. From the south side 
of the mountain for three or four miles northward, there is 
no possible ascent or descent on the west side, but at this 
notch, so deep is the precipice of the rock. I found the 
cave to be foi'med, on a base of perhaps forty feet square, by 
an irregular clump or pile of rocks, or huge broad pillars of 
stone, fifteen and twenty feet high, standing erect and elevated 
above the surrounding superficies of the mountain ; and enve- 
loped with trees and forest. The<=e rocks coalescing or con- 



j278 NOTES. 

tiguous at top, furnished hollows or vacuities below big enough 
to contain bedding and two or three persons. The apertures 
being closed with bows of trees, or otherwise there might be 
found a well-covered and convenient lodgment. Here, Mr. 
Sperry told me, was the first lodgment of the judges, and it has 
ever since gone and been known by the name of the Judges' 
Cave. Goffe's journal says they entered this cave on the 15th 
of May, and continued in it till the 11th of June following. 
Richard Sperry daily supplied their victuals from his house, 
about a mile off; sometimes carrying it himself, at other times 
sending it by one of his boys, tied up in a cloth, ordering him 
to lay it on a certain stump and leave it: and when the boy went 
for it at night, he always found the basins emptied of the provi- 
sions, and brought them home. The boy wondered at it, and 
used to ask his father the design of it, and he saw nobody. His 
father only told him there was somebody at work in the woods 
that wanted it. The son always remembered it, and often told 
it to persons now living, and to Mr. Joseph Sperry particularly.' 

Stiles, pp. 76-7. 

Here the judges supposed they must be perfectly safe from 
all harm; but it was not long before they were disturbed with 
visitors, even more terrible than Kellond and Kirk. This cave, 
it seems, had been appropriated by one of the panthers, which, 
at that time, infested the mountain. She came, on the night of 
the 10th of June, to reclaim her property; and 'one of the 
judges was so terrified by this grim and ferocious monster, her 
eyes and her squalling, that he took to his heels, and fled down 
the mountain.' Both were resolved not to dispute titles with a 
panther; and, for the present, there was no other resource than 
to shelter themselves at Mr. Sperry's. The pursuers were, by 
this time, returned from Manhadoes; and suspecting, or being 



NOTES. 279 

informed, that the judges might be at the Sperry farm, they had 
got within sixty yards of the house, before they were discovered. 
The judges fled into the wood; and Mr. Sperry gave the officers 
to understand, that he knew not where they were. 

Poor Kellond and Kirk had been most wickedly duped, in 
.ill their attempts to ferret out the delinquents; and we can 
hardly w^onder, that they should, at length, get out of patience. 
That the judges were in the neighbourhood of New Haven, even 
the people of New Haven did not pretend to deny. It was not 
possible, therefore, that they should so frequently elude the grasp 
of their pursuers, without the collusion of the inhabitants; and 
Mr. Davenport was now threatened, that, unless he would sur- 
render up the regicides, he should suffer the pains and penalties 
of harbouring and comforting traitors. As soon as the judges 
heard of this menace, they went immediately to Governor Leet, 
and offered to surrender themselves. They were told, by their 
friends, however, that such a step would be unnecessary; and, 
having cleared Mr. Davenport from the suspicion of their con- 
cealment, by showing themselves in public, they bid a final 
adieu to the world, and retired to the house of a Mr. Tomkins, 
in Milford. They lodged in the lower room, which had been 
occupied as a store; and, so effectually did they keep themselves 
concealed, for more than two years, that even the family, over 
their heads, were never privy to the fact. ' While they so- 
journed in Milford, (says Dr. Stiles,) there came over from 
England a ludicrous cavalier ballad, satirizing Charles' judges, 
and Goffe and Whalley among the rest. A spinstress, at Mil- 
ford, had learned to sing it; and used sometimes to sing it over 
the judges; and the judges used to get Tomkins to set the girls 
to singing that song for their diversion, being humoured and 



280 NOTES. 

pleased with it, though at their own expense, as they were the 
subjects of the ridicule. The girls knew nothing of the matter, 
being ignorant of the innocent device, and little thought that 
they were serenading angels.' 

In 1664, the king's commissioners arrived at Boston, with 
instructions to search ' for Colonel Whalley and Colonel GofTe.' 
A more secluded place than Milford was now thought neces- 
sary; and, on the 13th of October, the judges departed for 
Hadley, then the westernmost settlement of Massachusetts. 
They travelled only in the night; and secreted themselves in the 
woods during the day. The Rev. John Russel, the minister of 
Hadley, received them with great kindness; and his house was 
their protection for more than a dozen years. It was then the 
custom of the frontier settlers to attend church, with arms in 
their hands. On the 11th of September, 1675, the people of 
Hadley were assembled, to observe a fast, on the occasion of 
Pliilip's war, — when they were suddenly surrounded and sur- 
prised by a body of Indians. 

* Had Hadley been taken, the discovei^y of the judges would 
have been inevitable. Suddenly, and in the midst of the peo- 
ple there appeared a man of a venerable aspect, and different 
from the inhabitants in his apparel, who took the command, ar- 
ranged, and ordered them in the best military manner, and under 
his direction tbey repelled and routed the Indians, and the town 
was saved. He immediately vanished, and the inhabitants could 
not account for the phenomenon, but by considering that per- 
son as an angel sent of God upon that special occasion for their 
deliverance; and, for some time after, said and believed that 
they had been delivered and saved by an angel. Nor did they 
know or conceive olhenvise till fifteen or twenty years afterj 



NOTES. 281 

when it at length became known at Hadley, that the two judges 
had been secreted there ; which probably they did not know till 
after Mr. Russel's death, in 1692.' Stiles, pp. 109-10. 

The last account we have of these poor men, is in an affec- 
tionate letter from Goffe to his wife; with whom he was accus- 
tomed to correspond, in the character of mother, and under the 
name of Goldsmith. This letter, which was dated on the 2d 
of April, 1679, and which contains the intelligence of Whal= 
ley's death, has not been given by Dr. Stiles; but, in another, 
written in 1674, which he has inserted, we have an affecting 
account of Whalley's decrepitude, with some curious specimens 
of GofTe's religious fervour. Among persons of his cast, the 
scriptures had become a sort of conventional language; and no 
one could express his own feelings, or his sympathy in the feel- 
ings of others, without quoting an authority for his joy or sorrow. 

' The world's great things,' says Goffe, ' are indeed and in 
truth but poor little things, and the saints should look down 
upon them with contempt, and show themselves to be of high- 
raised spirits, seeking things truly great, as our Lord himself 
doth exhort us, Mat. vi. 33. But seek you first the kingdom of 
God and his righteousness ; as if he had said, for they are great 
things, worthy yovir affectionate endeavours ; and as for all these 
little things which Gentiles so earnestly pursue, they shall, 
be added unto you, so far as your Heavenly Father knoweth that 
you have need of them. My poor sister (his daughter) begins 
her house-keeping at a time when trade is low, and all provi- 
sions dear, and I cannot but pity her in that respect. I hope she 
will not be discouraged, nor her husband neither, but for pre- 
vention I desire them to consider seriously and to act faithfully 
upon that most excellent counsel of our Lord, delivered with 



282 NOTES. 

authority in his sermon on the mount, Mat. vi. from the 24lh 
verse to the end of the chapter. I cannot but be full of longings 
to hear how the Lord hath dealt with her in her lying-in, but I 
doubt not you will take the first opportunity to inform us of it ; 
in the mean time I shall endeavour to stay myself on the pro- 
mise made to child-bearing women, 1 Tim. ii. 15.' 

Stiles, pp. 116, 117. 

' Your old friend, Mr. R. (Whalley) is yet living, but continues 
in that weak condition of which I have formerly given you ac- 
count, and have not now much to add. He is scarce capable of 
any rational discourse, his understanding, memory, and speech 
doth so much fail him, and seems not to take much notice of 
any thing that is done or said, but patiently bears all things, and 
never complains of any thing, though I fear it is some troubla 
to him that he hath had no letter for along time from his cousin 
Rich, but speaks not one word concerning it, nor any thing you 
wrote of in your last; only after I had read your letters, he said 
it was none of his least comforts, and indeed he scarce ever 
speaks any thing, but in answer to questions when they are put 
to him, which are not of many kinds, because he is not capable 
to answer them ; the common and frequent question is to knovr 
how he doth, and his answer, for the most part, is, very well, I 
praise God, which he utters with a very low and weak voice; 
but sometimes he saith, not very well, or very ill, and then if it 
be further said, do you feel any pain any where, to that he always 
answers no ; Avhen he wants any thing, he cannot well speak for 
it, because he forgets the name of it, and sometimes he asks for 
one thing when he means another, so that his eye or his finger 
is oftentimes a better interpreter of his mind than his tongue; 
but his ordinary wants are so well known to us, that most of them 
are supplied without asking or making signs for them, and some 
help he stands in need of in every thing to which any motion is 



NOTES. 283 

requii'ed, having not been able of a long lime, to dress or un- 
dress himself, nor to feed, Sec' Ibid. pp. 18, 19. 

The exact years, in which the judges died, or the place or 
places where they were buried, have not yet been satisfactorily 
determined. In the old burying-ground at New Haven, there is a 
pair of rudely-shaped stones, two feet high, and two wide, which 
bear the initials E. W., and a date, which may be read 1658, 
or 1678. The 5 on both is the most conspicuous; but the 7 is 
easily decyphered. Near these, there is another stone, about a 
foot broad, and ten inches high, with the initials M. G., and the 
figures 80. There is a third in the same neighbourhood, a little 
longer than the first, with the inscription, J. D. esq. deceased 

3IARCH THE 18th, IN THE 82d YEAR OF HIS AGE, 1688-9. Tllis 

is known to be the tomb of John Dixwell, another of the judges, 
who visited Goffe and Whalley, while at Hadley; and who after- 
wards lived unmolested, at New Haven, under the name of 
John Davids. Now, it was natural, that these three judges 
should desire to be interred by the side of each other; and it 
was particularly necessary, that Goffe and Whalley, who were 
the most obnoxious, should be buried in some other place than 
that in which they last resided, and with circumstances of ob- 
scurity, which might prevent the detection of their graves. 
Dixwell lived long enough to remove both their bodies. The 
stones first mentioned, are the meanest in the ground. Whalley 
was alive in 1674, — but dead in 1679; and the figures on the 
stone were evidently cut with a design to have them mean 
either 1658, or 1678. The last we hear of Goffe was in 1679. 
The 80, on the second stone, may stand for 1680; and the M, 
which has a dash under it, might have been designed for an in- 
verted W. Tliere is a tradition at New Haven, that these are the 
graves of Goffe and Whalley. 



^84 NOTES. 



NOTE (G). P. 79. 

Many of the persons, who obtained charters for land in the 
New World, were obliged to submit to some unpleasant com- 
pliances; and Penn, no doubt, must have been a little galled, 
when he found, (hat his charter was not only granted upon a 
military consideration, — but made him the military chief of his 
territory. 

SECTION I. 

' Know ye, therefore, that we (favouring the petition and 
good purpose of the said William Penn, and having regard to 
the memory and merits of his late father, in divers services, and 
particularly to his conduct, courage, and discretion, under our 
dearest brother, James, Duke of York, in that signal battle and 
victory, fought and obtained against the Dutch fleet, command- 
ed by t,he Heer Van Opdam, in the year 1665: In consideration 
whereof, Sec. 

SECTION XVI. 

* And because in so remote a country, and situate near many 
barbarous nations, the incursions as well of the savages them- 
selves, as of other enemies, pirates and robbers, may probably 
be feared ; therefore we have given, and for us, our heirs and 
successors, do give power by these presents unto the said Wil- 
liam Penn, his heirs and assigns, by themselves or their cap- 
tains, or other their officers, to levy, muster, and train, all sorts 
of men, of what condition soever, or wheresoever born, in the 
said province of Pennsylvania, for the time being, and to make 
war, and to pursue the enemies and robbers aforesaid, as well 
by sea as by land, and yea even without the limits of the said 
province, and by God's assistance, to vanquish and take them, 
and being taken to put them to death by the law of war, or to 



NOTES. 285 

save them, al iheir pleasure, and to do every otlier thing which 
unto the charge and office of a captain-general belongeth or 
hath accustomed to belong, as fully and freely as any captain- 
general hath ever had the same.' 

Dallas' State Laws, vol. i. App. i. pp. 1. 5. 



NOTE (H). P. 97. 

New Haven was then called a ' splendid' city, and a few 
hundred pounds seemed a magnificent donation. A modern 
reader would hardly suppose, that, in the following sentences, 
the trustees were talking of three hundred and forty books, and 
about three hundred pounds' worth of merchandise: — 

' Generosissima, honoratissimi Domini Elihu Yale Armi- 
geri, donatione, vigilantes scholae academicae, in splendido novi 
Portus Connecticutensis oppido constitutae, Curatores, aedifi- 
cium coUegiale inceptum erectumque perficere capaces redditi, 
honorem tali tantoque Msecenati patronoque debitum animo 
gratissimo meditantes, memoriamque tanti beneficii in banc 
praecipue coloniam collati, in omne sevum modo optimo per- 
ducere studiosi : Nos Curatores, negotii tanti in commune prae- 
sertim hujus provinciae populi bonum momenti cura honorati, 
omothumadon consentimus, statuimus, et ordinamus, nostras 
sedes academicas patroni munificentissimi, nomine appellari, 
atque Yalense Collegium nominari: ut haec provincia diu- 
ternum viri adeo generosi, qui, tanta bcnevolentia tantaque 
nobilitate, in commodum illorum maseimum propriamque 
incolarum et in praesenti et futuris saeculis utilitatem conse- 
cluit, ijionumentum vetineat et conservit.' 

Trumb, vol. ij. p. 28. 



286 NOTES. 



NOTE (I). P. 111. 



This account is taken from the Life of Patrick Henry, by 
Mr. Wirt; who has done for ' the Demosthenes of Virginia,' 
what we should be glad to see repeated of many other worthies 
in our early history. This, however, must not be taken for an 
unqualified approbation of the manner, in which Mr. Wirt's 
volume is composed. One is seldom induced to write the life of 
another, until he has wrought himself into an overweening admi- 
ration of his subject; and it is regularly the case, that, instead 
of making him the theme of history, he treats him as the hero of 
a romance. It may be the opinion of Mr. Jefferson, that Pa- 
trick Henry was 'the greatest orator that ever lived;' but no 
sober man will believe, that the effect of his eloquence, in the 
Parsons'' Cause, was such as it is here represented. See from 
p. 24 to p. 27, 3d edit. 



NOTE (J). P. 159. 

The stale of Wolfe's feelings will be best ascertained from 
the beginning and conclusion of his letter to Mr. Pitt, dated 

* Head Quarters, at Montmorency, ut the River St. Laivrence, 
Sclitember 2, 1759. 
'Sir, 

' I wish I could, upon this occasion, have the honouv 
of transmitting to you a more favourable account of the progress 
of his majesty's arms; but the obstacles we have met with, iu 
the operations of the campaign, are much greater than v/e had 



NOTES. 287 

veason to expect, or could foresee; not so much from the nuni 
ber of the enemy, (though superior to us,) as from the natural 
strength of the country, which the IMarquis de Montcahn seems 
Avisely to depend upon. 

' When I learned that succours of all kinds had been sent 
into Quebec; that five battalions of regular troops, completed 
from the best of the inhabitants of the country, and every Ca- 
nadian that was able to bear arms, besides several nations of 
savages, had taken the field in a very advantageous situation, I 
could not flatter myself that I should be able to reduce the 
place. I sought, however, an occasion to attack their anny, 
knowing well, that with these troops I was able to fight, and 
hoping that a victory might disperse them. 

' ' By the list of disabled officers, (many of whom are of rank,) 
you may perceive, sir, that the army is much weakened. By 
the nature of the river, the most formidable part of this arma- 
ment is deprived of the power of acting; yet we have almost 
the whole force of Canada to oppose. In this situation, there 
is such a choice of difficulties, that I own myself at a loss how 
to determine. The affairs of Great Britain, I know, require 
the most vigorous measures; but then the courage of a handful 
of brave men should be exerted only when there is some hope 
of a ^vourable event. However, you may be assured, sir, that 
the small part of the campaign which remains shall be employ- 
ed, (as far as I am able,) for the honour of his majesty and the 
interest of the nation, in which I am sure of being well seconded 
by the admiral and by the generals. Happy if our efforts here 
can contribute to the success of his majesty's arms^ in any 
other parts of America. 

'I have the honour to be, with the greatest respect, sir, 
your most obedient and most humble servant, 

JAMES WOLFE.' 



2SS NOTES, 



NOTE (K). P. 178. 

The Indians have no newspapers; and the historian ii, 
therefore, obliged to rely upon such statements as he finds in 
those of their enemies. The gazettes of this period abound in 
exaggerated accounts of Indian barbarities, with anxious apolo- 
gies for those committed by the English. 

' Charlesto-wn, Feb. 16, 1760. 
'The general assemblj' of this province, in order to protect the back 
settlers, to relieve Fort Prince George, and to chastise the perfidious 
(]herokees, for their atrocious breach of the late treaty, and most horrid 
cruelties and violences, have cheerfully resolved to continue the provin- 
cials in pay, to provide for seven troops of rangers, to be immediately 
raised, consisting of seventy-five men each, besides officers; to whom 
commissions are already issuing; and to raise, besides, a regiment of foot, 
to consist of ten companies, of one hundi'ed men each, exclusive of the 
officers: and likewise to give proper rewards for Indian scalps, and vest 
the property of Indian prisoners, as slaves, to those who shall take them.' 

Pennsylvania Gazette, March 6, 1760. 

« Charlestoiun, Jlpnl 22, 1760. 
' The assembly have resolved that the sum of twenty-five pounds, for- 
merly ofTisred for Cherokee scalps, be augmented to thirty-five pounds, to 
such as do not receive pay.' Ibid. May 22, 1760. 

' Charlestoiun. 
* If the stratagem, used to get the Indians into our hands, be scarcely 
justifiable by the law of nations, agreed upon and observed among civil- 
ized people, it ought to be considered whether such measures as are found 
most likely to reduce to reason those savages, who have no regard to 
civihzed nations, are not expedient, and may be allowed, and the present 
occurrence may and will, it is hoped, by proper management, greatly 
facilitate the success of future operations.' Ibid. June 19, 1760. 

It must not be understood, from these extracts, that the Ca- 
rolinians alone committed excesses, in the prosecution of Indian 
warfare. It was too general a practice, throughout the pro- 
vinces; and, though, at this distant period of safety, we may 
find reasons to condemn what appears so inhuman, most of us 
would, probably, hesitate to say, that, had we been in place of 
the colonists, we would not have adopted their conduct. It had 



NOTES. 289 

Rot yet been determined, which side was the strongest; and, 
when men are fighting for their existence, they appeal to the 
first law of nature, to justify measures, which, under different 
circumstances, they would be the most forward to discounter 
nance. 



NOTE (^L). p. 183, 

We suppose, the longest letter ever written by Putnam, was 
during this expedition. He was conscious of being illiterate; 
and, as it was prudent to expose his ignorance as little as possi- 
ble, his notes, through life, were short and unfrequent. The 
following letter, addressed to Major Drake, of Norwich, in 
Connecticut, is copied from the Boston Gazette of December 
24th, 1764. We have never seen it in any other place; and 
Colonel Humphreys, who has given a pretty minute account of 
Putnam's life, scarcely mentions the circumstance of his western 
expedition.* 

' New London, Nov. 30. 
' Camfi, Sandusky, near the Carrying Place, 
October 7, 1764. 
*Dear Sir, 

' I can tell you, the land here is good enough, and suppose 
you will think it strange, if I should tell you, that, in many 
places in this country, there is ten or twenty thousand acres of 
land in a place, that has not a bush nor a twigg on it, but all- 
cbvered with grass so big and high, that it is very difficult to 

* Humphrey's Works, p. 242 ; et seg. 
O O 



;^90 NOTES. 

travel — and all as good plough-land as you ever saw; any of it 
fit for hemp : but there is too many hemji birds among it, 
which will make it very unhealthy to live among. 

'Detroit is a very beautiful place, and the country around it. 
We sent out an officer and 3 Indians to the Delawares and 
Shawanese from Priskeal, who returned and were illy used. 
We sent the like number from Sandusky, but all before any 
one returned. 

' From Sandusky we sent Capt. Montieur and Capt. Peter ; 
from Mavime we sent Capt. Morris of the 17th and one Tho- 
mas King with 3 Indians. Capt. Morris returned some time 
ago, and was much abused and stript and whipt, and threatened 
to be tomahawk'd, but had his life spared in case he would 
return. Capt. Thomas King and 3 of the Conowawas pro- 
ceeded. — This Capt. King is one of the chiefs of the Oneida 
Castle; and about ten days ago King came into Detroit, and 
had left all the Conowawas, who gave out for want of provi- 
sions and could not travel : he supposed they all perished in 
the woods. And three days ago he arrived here, and yester- 
day he had a conference with the Indians; and when all assem- 
bled, he made'a speech to them: After some talk with them, 
he expressed himself in this manner: 'Friends and bro- 
thers, I am now about to acquaint you with facts, too obvious to 
deny : I have been since I left you to Monsieur Pontuck's camp, 
and waited on him to see if he was willing to come in, and 
make peace with our brothers the English. He asked me what 
I meant by all that ; saying you have always encouraged me to 
can'y on the war against the English : and said the only rea- 
son you did not join me last year was for want of ammunition : 
and as soon as you could get ammunition, you would join me.' — 
King said there was nothing in it: at which Pontuck produced 
six belts of wampum that he had had last year from the Six 



NOTES. 291 

Nations; said, the English were so exhausted they could do 
no more; and that one year's war well pushed, would drive 

them into the sea. King then made a stop for some time- 

Brothers you know this to be true, and you have always de- 
ceived me. At which the Six Nations were all angry, and 

this day they are all packing up to go off; and what will be the 
event I don't know, nor don't care; for I have no faith in an 
Indian peace patch'd up by presents. 

' Yesterday, Capt. Peters arrived, which is the last party we 
have out. Capt. Peters says the Wiandots are all coming in; 
but theDelawares and Shawanese are not coming, nor durst to 
come; for they are afraid that if they should come here, Col. 
Bouquet will be on their towns and castles; for he has sent to 
them to come and make peace ; and on the contrary, if they 
should go to him, we should be on them. And they intend to 
be still, until Bouquet first comes to them ; and then send out 
and make peace if possible; if not to fight him as long as they 
have a man left. But believe they wait to get some advantage 
of us before they try for peace: But Capt. Peters says. Bou- 
quet is within 30 miles of their towns; and believes is to make 
peace with them, for Col. Bradstreet had orders from general 
Gage eight days ago, to make no peace with them, and to 
march to meet Bouquet. But on calling a council of war and 
examining the Indians and Frenchmen that were acquainted with 
the road, found it to be 30 leagues to travel by land, and no- 
thing to carry any provisions but on men's backs, which allow- 
ing for hindrances must take 40 days to go and come; and four 
large rivers to pass, two of which must be crossed with rafts, 
and that very difficult ; and considering the season of the year, 
it was judg'd impracticable. And here we are, and for what I 
know not ; nor when we are to leave it. 
' I am. Sec. 

'ISRAEL PUTNAM.' 



292 NOTES. 

It has been recently discovered, that ' Old Put' was a coward. 
So stupid a calumny could only have found place in the pages of 
a stupid journal; and a short review of that soldier's life, during 
the period, in which this new trait is said to have displayed itself, 
will show, at least, that, if he was a coward, he was a coward 
to some purpose. The news from Lexington found him work- 
ing at stone-fence, in his leathern frock and apron. He imme- 
diately mounted his horse, to spread the intelligence through the 
adjoining towns; and, when he returned to make a little prepa- 
ration for the march, a body of several hundreds of persons, 
already under arms, appointed him their commander. He or- 
dered them to march with a quick step; and, setting off himself, 
in his check-shirt, arrived at Concord by sun-rise next morning. 

Men, who were stationed at one particular spot, in the battle 
of Bunker's Hill, pretend to trace the movements of General 
Putnam; and have charged him with a fear of powder and ball, 
for being seen once in a particular situation, when, in fact, he 
was, at different times, in every part of the field. It may be 
true, that the army was not under any general, who had been 
regularly commissioned; but it is equally true, that Putnam dis- 
charged the duties, though he might not have held the diploma, 
of a commander in chief. ' General Warren joins the Massa- 
chusetts forces in one place,' says Hubley; and ' general Pomeroy 
in another, whilst General Putnam was busily engaged in aiding 
and encouraging here and there as required.'* Since he was 

* Hist, of the Amer. Rev. By Behnabd HtrBLET. Northumberland, 
Penn, 1805, p. 287. We quote this book with much confidence ; though 
it appears to be little known. Hubley was an officer in the revolution; 
and, besides his own papers, he obtained from his brother officers theii* 
journals and memorandunjs ; and from General Hand, the last adjutant- 



NOTES. 293 

the most experienced, and had not yet shown himself a coward, 
it was natural, that the other two generals should give him the 
precedence; and we know not, that the historian could have 
chosen language, more pointedly expressive of <he conduct, which 
a brave commander is always found to adopt. That Putnam 
was, at one time, seen with entrenching tools beibre him, we 
had rather admit than deny. It might have been necessary to 
carry them from one part of the works to another: the length of 
the redoubt was eighty rods: a man, who had come from making 
stone-fence, was not likely to shrink from a spade or a pick-axe; 
and, since the sooner they were carried the better, we think 
nothing more probable, than that Putnam, being on horseback, 
took a part of them himself. 

It was not Colonel Gerrish alone, who was tried for cowardice 
at the battle of Bunker's Hill. The colonists had not yet been 
separated from England long enough to distinguish, with cer- 
tainty, the friends from the foes: the conduct of every individual 
was watched with the strictest scrutiny; and court marlials con- 
tinued to be held upon officers and men, from the 7th of July 
to the 5th of October.* The same rigour was extended to the 
camp. Offences, which would now be overlooked, were then 
punished with severity. One captain was fined eight shillings 

general of the army, his whole collection of official documents. The 
volume now before us, (the only one which the author lived to publish,) 
contains upwards of six hundred pages; and yet, so careful has he been 
to give full copies of records and orders, that it embraces no more than 
the period between 1773 and 1775. The book is of considerable value 
as a repository of documents ; and its value has been greatly enhanced by 
the conflagration of the war-office. 

* Hub. pp. 352, 590, 416, 470, 498, 507, 511, 525, 528, 537, 546, 558, 
^ly, 585, 592. 



294 NOTES. 

for two oaths; and a private received twenty lashes for abusing 
Colonel Gredley, and forging Putnam's order for a quart of 
rum.* If Putnam himself was a coward, he was certainly a 
most conspicuous coward. Had he dodged, or turned pale, 
there was not an officer or a man in the army, who would not 
have been a witness to the fact. 

On the 22d of July, 1775, the army was marshalled into three 
divisions; and it is a remarkable instance of successful cow- 
ardice, that the left wing was given to Major-Generai Putnam.f 
Indeed, so little was his character known, at this lime, that, 
when General Washington, early in 1776, had formed a bold 
and hazardous plan of taking Boston by storm, he designated 
Putnam for his leader, though he was the youngest, in rank, of 
four major-generals. 'In expectation, (says Marshal,) that 
the flower of the British troops would be employed against the 
heights of Dorchester, General Washington had concerted a 
plan for availing himself of that occasion, to attack the town of 
Boston itself. Four thousand chosen men were held in readi- 
ness to embark at the mouth of Cambridge river, on a signal to 
be given, if the garrison should appear to be so weakened, by 
the detachment from it, as to justify an assault. These troops 
were to embark in two divisions; the first to be led by Briga- 
dier-General Sullivan; the second, by Brigadier- General Green; 
and the whole to be under the command of Major- General 
Putnam.ij:' I" fine, a lack of courage was the last accusation, 
which could be expected to succeed against General Putnam: 

* Hub. pp. 503, 465. 
f rbid. pp. 435, 437. 
t Marsh, Life of Wash. vol. ii. p. 272. 



NOTES. 295 

and, until a man has voluntarily descended to fight a wolf in her 
own den, let him never think himself entitled to call the hero 
of Pomfert a coward. 



NOTE (M). P. ISr. 

The colonies were not yet perfectly ripe for insurrection; 
and it will appear, from the following extract of a letter from 
Mr. M'Kean, who represented Delaware, to Mr. Adams, our 
second president, that the congress at New York was, by no 
means, unanimous enough to hasten the maturity of the cause. 

<■ Philadeljihia, Aug. 20, 1813. 
' Dear Sir, 

' I can at length furnisli you with a copy of the proceed- 
ings of the congress, held at New York, in 1765; it is inclosed 
herewith. After a diligent inquiry, I had not been able to pro- 
cure a single copy, either in manuscript or print, done in the 
United States, but fortunately met one, published by J. Almon, 
in London, in 1767, with a collection of American tracts, in 4 
8vo volumes; from which I caused the present one to be 
printed. It may be of some use, to the historian at least. 
*■****#********** 

'In the congress of 1765, there wei'e several conspicuous 
characters : Mr. James Otis appeared to me to be the boldest 
and best speaker. I voted for him as our president; but Bri- 
gadier Ruggles succeeded, by one vote, owing to the number 
of the committee from New York, as we voted individually. 
When the business was finished, our president would not sign 
the petitions, and peremptorily refused to assign any reasons. 



29G NOTES. 

until I pressed him so hard, that lie at last said, ' it was against 
his conscience;' on which word I rung the change so loud, that 
a plain challenge was given by him, and accepted, in the pre- 
sence of the whole corps ; but he departed the next morning, 
before day, without an adieu to any of his brethren. He seemed 
to accord with what was done during the session, so fully and 
heartily, that Mr. Otis told me frequently it gave him surprise, 
as he confessed he suspected his sincerity. 

' There was less fortitude in that body than in the succeed- 
ing congress of 1774: indeed some of the members seemed 
as timid as if engaged in a traitorous conspiracy. Mr. Ogden, 
then speaker of the New Jersey assembly, following the exam- 
ple of the president, declined to sign the petitions, though 
warmly solicited by myself, in private, and also by my father- 
in-law. Col. Borden, his colleague : the consequence of my 
mentioning this fact, as I returned to Newcastle, through New 
Jersey, was to Mr. Ogden a burning in effigy, in several of the 
counties, and his removal from the office of speaker, at the 
next meeting of the general assembly ; and to me, menaces of 
another challenge. The great mass of the people were, at that 
time, zealous in the cause of America.* 

Brigadier Ruggles was afterwards a deputy to the general 
court of Massachusetts, from the town of Hardwicke; and, when 
that body, on the 26th of February, 1768, passed its resolutions 
to suppress luxury, and encourage domestic manufactures, ' the 
representative from Hardwicke,' to use his own words, ' was the 
only one who answered nay.'^ He drew up a paper of ' reasons,' 
which the court refused to enter upon its journals; and which, 
indeed, seem only intended to insult the dignity of the house, 
by satirizing the morals of the province. ' He had no objection, 
(he said,) to the resolution of endeavouring to suppress extra- 



NOTES. J297 

vagance, idleness, and vice, and promoting industry, economy, 
and good morals, but was pleased with the appearance of such 
necessary reformation.' 

Mr. Otis, mentioned in the above letter, was one of our ear- 
liest patriots; and, at last, fell a sacrifice to our cause. The 
following scraps, from the newspapers, will give the reader of 
the present day, some idea of the trials, which the leaders of 
the revolution were obliged to encounter. 

' ADVERTISEMENT. 
•Whereas I have full evidence that Henry Hulton, Charles Paxton, 
William Burch, and John Robinson, Esquires, have frequently and lately- 
treated the character of all true North Americans in a manner that is not. 
to be endured, by privately and publicly representing them as traitors and 
rebels, and in a general combination to revolt from Great Britain. And 
whereas the said Henry, Charles, William, and John, without the least 
provocation or colour, have represented me, by name, as inimical to the 
rights of the crown, and disaffected to his majesty, to whom I annually 
swear, and am determined, at all events, to bear true and faithful allegi- 
ance; for all which general, as well as personal abuse and insult, satisfac- 
tion has been personally demanded, due warning given, but no sufficient 
answer obtained. These are, therefore, humbly to desire the lords com- 
missioners of his m.ijesty's treasury, his principle secretaries of state, 
particulai-ly my Lord of Hillsborough, the board of trade, and all others 
whom it may concern, or who may condescend to read this, to pay no 
kind of regard to any of the abusive misrepresentations of me or my 
country, that may be transmitted by the said Henry, Charles, William, 
and John, or their confederates, for they are no more worthy of credit 
than those of Sir Francis Bernard, of Nettleham, Bart., or any of his 
cabal ; which cabal may be well known, from the papers in the house of 
commons, and at every great office in England. 

'JAMES OTIS.' 
' Messrs. Edes & Gill, 

' Please to insert the inclosed copy of a letter to me, from the col- 
lectoi", with the observations, and you will obhge your friend, 

♦JAMES OTIS.' 
''Sin, 

' When you first informed me of your dissatisfaction at an expres- 
sion, wherein your name happens to be mentioned, in an official report 
from me, as collector of this board, to the board of customs, 1 then de- 
clared to you that I had no intention or design, by that expression, to 
cast any personal reflection or censure upon you ; which declaration, as 
above, I now confirm under my hand; and to which I shall add, that, so 
far from intending any harm to you, by that mention of your name, I shall 
be sorry if any detriment should happen to you by that means. 
*I am, sir, your humble servant, 

'JOS. HARRISON.' 
' Boston, Av^. 11, 1/69. 

pp 



29S NOTES. 

' Mr. Harrison is too contemptible, in my opinion, to take any further 
notice of, at present, than to declare, that I think him, if not a very 
wicked, yet a very weak old man. To charge a person, by name, as ini- 
mical to the crown, and then give it under hand that no reflection was 
meant, is either lying or a mark of superannuation. As to official reports, 
my charge against Mr. Harrison was not confined to them : Had it been, 
he has no ri.t;lil to use my name in his official reports, unless I obstruct 
him in his office, which he knows I never did. 'l"he commissioners too 
are far gone in the doctrine of official reports. And it seems to be a cur- 
rent opinion among them, that the most infamous slander imaginable, 
handed into their board, and sworn to, no matter by whom, nor before 
what justice, is sufficient to support a memorial to the treasury or parlia- 
ment. It is strange, considering the frequent conferences and communi- 
cations between those able lawyers. Governor Hutchinson, Judge Auch- 
muty, the attorney-general, Jonathan Philanthrop, and the commissioners, 
these have not learnt law enough to know tliey have no right to scan- 
dalize their neignbours. 'Tis strange that Mr. Robinson, even in his 
Welch clerkship, could not find out that, if he '' officialli'" or in any 
other way, misrepresents me, I have a natural right, if I can get no other 
satisfaction, to break his head. None but such superlative blockheads as 
II. lioiilton, C. Paxton, W. Burch, and J. Robinson, could think gentle- 
men meanable to them, unless they hold under them. 

♦J. OTIS.' 

• ]Iosto7i, September 7. 
' Early on Tuesday evening last, a difference arose, at tiie British 
<;offee-House, in this town, between James Otis, Esq. and John Robinson, 
Esq.; the latter demanding satisfaction for certain e.vpressions, in a pub- 
lication, signed by Mr. Otis, in the Boston Gazette o\ Monday last. After 
a proposal, on the part of Mr. Otis, to decide this controversy by them- 
selves, in a separate room, which was consented to by Mr Robinson, very 
unexpectedly to Mr Otis, and while he was rising, Mr. Robinson, in the 
presence of the public company in the coffee-room, attempted to pidl 
liim by the nose, and, failing in the attempt, he immediately struck at 
liim with his cane ; against which Mr. Otis defended himself, and returned 
the compliment. A close engagement then ensued, and Mr. Otis, having 
disarmed his antagonist, several persons in the room fell upon Mr. Otis — 
some of whom held him, while others struck with cutlasses, canes, and 
other weapons, and the general cry was, kill him, kill hmi. A young gen- 
tleman, Mr. John Gridley, passing by the room, and seeing Mr. Otis 
treated in so ungentleman-like and barbarous a manner, and without a 
friend near him, pressed in, and, endeavouring to interpose, was also at- 
tacked, in the manner Mr. Otis was, by as many as could come near him ; 
and, after a resolute and manly defence of himself, was at length over- 
powered, as Mr. Otis had been, by numbers. By this time several others 
had got into the room ; whereupon Mr. Robinson, and those who were 
with him, retired through the back-door of the coffee-house. Mr. Otis 
and Mr. Gridley were carried off, much wounded; and it is thought, had 
jiot the people come in to their assistance, the consequence of this un- 
generous assault would have been fatal. The company in the room, 
when Mr. Otis was first attacked, consisted chiefly of the officers of the 
army and the revenue; and it is allowed, without contradiction, that both 
Mr. Otis and Mr. Gridley acquitted tiiemselves with a spirit and resolu- 
tion becoming gentlemen and men of honor.' 



NOTES. 299 

The wounds received in this encounter, were, at length, the 
occasion of his death. He became, at times, extremely melan- 
choly; and, in one of his fits, he committed all his papers to the 
flames. The business occupied him several days; and ' it was 
by this means,' says Mr. John Adams, ' that we have lost the 
history of our revolution.' 



is^OTE (N). p. 198. 

A FINE sketch of Franklin's life will be found in vol. ii. 
|)t. i. of Delaplaine's Repository; — a work, which is projected 
upon the best of principles; and which, if it continues to be 
adorned with such articles as the present, will reflect honour 
upon the literature and arts of the United States. 

The letters of Franklin, and of all his friends, speak but 
one language upon the zeal and industry, with which he sup- 
ported the American cause, while in London. October 23, 
1768, a gentleman writes to his correspondent, 'Dr. Franklin 
is very well, and very busy; you do not see him this year. In- 
deed it is better for you that he is where he is.' Another, in a 
letter of November 3, says, ' Dr. Franklin is indefatigable in his 
endeavours to serve his country. I heard him say, a few days 
ago, in a large company, ' Britain has no right to tax the colo- 
nies, and never had any such right, and I trust never will have 
it.' In one of his own letters to Lord Kames, dated in April, 
1767, 'You guessed right,' says he, 'that I would not be a 
mute in that play. I was extremely busy, attending members 
of both houses, informing, explaining, consulting, disputing, in a 
continual hurrv from morning till night.' 



300 NOTES. 

' The situation, in which Franklin stood before the house of 
commons, at his examination,' says the eloquent writer in the 
Repository^ ' was certainly one of the noblest in which man 
could be placed; and, for the nation in whose behalf he spoke, 
one of the most endearing and thankworthy.' A friend wrote, 
to know by whom the questions were severally put; and the 
Doctor sent him a series of answers, which are given, for the 
first time, in the Repository, and which will be read with great 
interest, by every lover of his country. 

Art. Frank, p. 74, et seq. 

The affair of Hutchinson and Oliver's letters was involved 
in considerable mystery, till the recent publication of Frank- 
lin's Memoirs, by his grandson. We have here an explanation 
from himself; which, like every other paper from the same hand, 
is clear, pointed, full, and satisfactory.* We have never seen 
these letters in any collection of American state papers; and, as 
they relate to a very important epoch in our history, we shall lay 
a short account of them before the reader. 

The first, from Mr. Hutchinson, dated, Boston, June 18, 
1768, contains an account of the riot, occasioned by the seizure 
and removal of the sloop, belonging to Mr. Hancock. It is a 
mere opening to the subsequent letters; and only looks towards 
the recommendation of measures, which may keep the Bostoni- 
ans in better subjection. The king's officers, he says, were 
insulted and abused; their windows broken; the collector's boat 
burnt; and the commissioners driven on board the Romney man 
of war. The governor, when asked to interfere, called it a mere 
^ brush:' the whole province seemed to consider it in the same 

* "Works.. Am. edit, vol, i. p. 230, et seq. 



NOTES. 301 

light; and, after adding, that ' it is not possible this anarchy 
should last always,' Mr. Hutchinson leaves his friend to his own 
reflections upon what would be likely to restore order. 

The next letter, from the same person, is dated in August 
of the same year. Mr. Hutchinson now grows more confident; 
and ventures to hint at those measures, which his first letter left 
merely to inference. He inveighs against ' our incendiaries;' 
laments the ' cruel treatment' of the commissioners; and, resum- 
ing the topic of Hancock's vessel, states the naked fact, that 
there did not exist, in the province, ' any authority able and 
willing,' to suppress the mob. More observations follow in the 
same spirit; but, lest the hint, already given, should be lost, he 
repeats more distinctly, that, ' with all the aid you can give to 
the officers of the crown, they will have enough to do to main- 
tain the authority of government, and to carry the laws into 
execution. If they are discountenanced, neglected, or fail of 
support from you, they must submit to every thing the present 
opposers of government think fit to require of them.' 

In the third letter, dated October 4, 1768, Mr. Hutchinson 
announces the arrival of two regiments from Halifax; and, as he 
now supposes, that an ' authority' exists, ' able and willing' to 
suppress a mob, his mind seems to be more easy on that subject. 
He speaks with contempt of colonial insurrection, and derides 
every effort of his countrymen to assert or maintain their rights. 
' Many of the common people,' says he, ' have been in a frenzy, 
and talked of dying in defence of their liberties;' but, when the 
troops came to land, though they had given ' broad hints' of re- 
sistance, ' their courage abated, as the prospect of revenge be- 
came more certain,' and they suffered the soldiers to disembark 
and march unmolested to their quarters, ' The town of Boston,' 



302 NOTES. 

he adds, ' met and passed a number of weak, but very criminal 
votes; and, as the governor declined calling an assembly, they 
sent circular letters to all the towns and districts, to send a per- 
son each, that there might be a general consultation at so extra- 
ordinary a crisis. They met and spent a week, made themselves 
ridiculous, and then dissolved themselves, after a message or 
two to the governor, which he refused to receive; a petition to 
the king, which I dare say, their agent will never be allowed to 
present, and a result which they have published ill-natured and 
impotent.' 

But the conduct of the provincials soon restored the wonted 
seriousness of Mr. Hutchinson's tone; and, as the two regiments 
of foot had not proved entirely efficacious, he has more thorough 
remedies in store. His fourth letter, of December 10, contains 
an account of what he calls ' a piece of low cunning,' in the 
president of the council; but it is in the fifth, that he proposes 
his radical specific for the ' distemper' of the colonists: — 

' Boston, Jan. 20, 1766. 
' Dear Sir, 

' You have laid me under very great obligations, by the 
very clear and full account of proceedings in parliament, which 
I received from you by Captain Scott. You have also done 
much service to the people of the province. For a day or two 
after the ship arrived, the enemies of government gave out, 
that their friends in parliament were increasing, and all things 
would be soon on their old footing; in other words, that all acts, 
imposing duties, would be repealed, the commissioners' board 
dissolved, the customs put on the old footing, and illicit trade 
be carried on with little or no hazard. It was very fortunate 
that I had it in my power to prevent such a false misrepre- 
sentation from spreading through the province. I have been 



NOTES. 303 

very cautious of using your name, but I have been very free 
in publishing abroad the substance of your letter, and declaring 
that I had my intelligence from the best authority, and have, 
in a great measure, defeated the ill design, in raising, and 
attempting to spread, so groundless a report. What marks of 
resentment the parliament will show, whether they will be 
upon the province in general, or particular persons, is ex- 
tremely uncertain, but that they will be placed somewhere is 
most certain ; and, I add, because I think it ought to be so, 
that those who have been the most steady in preserving the 
constitution, and opposing the licentiousness of such as call 
themselves the Sons of Liberty, will certainly meet with favour 
and encouragement. 

' This is most certainly a crisis. I really wish that there 
may not have been the least degree of severity, beyond what 
is absolutely necessary to maintain, I think I may say to you, 
the dependence which a colony ought to have upon the parent 
state ; but if no measures shall have been taken to secure this 
dependence, or nothing more than some declaratory acts or 
resolves, it is all over with us. The friends of government 
will be utterly disheartened, and the friends of anarchy will be 
afraid of nothing, be it ever so extravagant. 

' The last vessel from London had a quick passage. We 
expect to be in suspense for the three or four next weeks, and 
then to hear our fate. I never think of the measures neces- 
sary for the peace and good order of the colonies, without pain. 
There must be an abridgment of what are called English 
liberties. I relieve myself by considering that, in a remove 
from the state of nature to the most perfect state of govern- 
ment, there must be a great I'estraint of natural liberty. I 
doubt whether it is possible to project a system of govern- 
ment, in which a colonv, three thousand miles distant from the 



304 NOTES. 

parent state, shall enjoy all the liberty of the parent state. I 
am certain I have never yet seen the projection. I wish the 
good of the colony, vs'hen I wish to see some further restraint 
of liberty, rather than the connexion with the parent state 
should be broken ; for I am sure such a breach must prove 
the ruin of the colony. Pardon me this excursion: it really 
proceeds from the state of mind into which our perplexed 
affairs often throw me. 

' I have the honor to be, with great esteem, sir, your most 
humble and most obedient servant, 

' THO. HUTCHINSON.' 

In the letter, dated October 26, of the same year, Mr. Hut- 
chinson follows up the suggestion of ' abridging' English liber- 
ties. ' They (the colonists, says he) deserve punishment, you 
will say; but laying or continuing taxes upon all cannot be 
thought equal, seeing many will be punished, who are not 
offenders. Penalties of another sort seem better adapted.' 

The remaining letters are from Mr. Andrew Oliver; who 
appears to have been more anxious to increase his salary, and 
promote his son, than to oppress the colonies, or serve his mas- 
ters. It is the burthen of his correspondence, that the disaffec- 
tion of the provinces was confined to a [ew desperate individuals; 
and that the most effectual cure of the disorder, would be, to aug- 
ment the pay of public officers, and make them dependent upon 
the crown. ' The body of the people, (says he, in a letter, 
dated May 7, 1767.) are well disposed;' and then follows a 
computation of what he supposes would adequately remunerate 
him for his labours, in behalf of the administration. 

On the 11th of May, 1768, he writes another letter, of 
nearly the same import. ' Without a proper support afforded 



NOTES. 305 

to the king's officers, (says he,) the respect due to government 
will, of course, fail.' And, again, ' government here wants 
some effectual support: No sooner was it known that the lieu- 
tenant-governor had a provision of two hundred pounds made 
him, out of the revenue, than he was advised to resign all pre- 
tensions to a seat in council, either with or without a voice. 
The temper of the people may surely be learnt from that infa- 
mous paper; it is the very thing that forms their temper; for if 
they are not in the temper of the writer, at the time of the pub- 
lication, yet it is looked upon as the Oracle, and they soon 
bring their temper to it.' 'This, (he adds, a little after,) con- 
firms me in an opinion, that I have taken up a long time since, 
that if .there be no way to take off the original incendiaries, 
they will continue to instil their poison into the minds of the 
people, through the vehicle of the Boston Gazette.' Mr. 
Otis was one of these 'incendiaries;' and his assassination, at 
the British Coffee House, in September, of the following year, 
sufficiently explained the words ' taking off.' 

Mr. Oliver's next letter is dated August 12, 1769. It is 
filled, like the rest, with calculations on the subject of salaries. 
We find two other letters in the collection; but they are from 
less conspicuous individuals; and we may pass them over with- 
out particular mention. 

We shall close the note with one or two extracts from the 
speech upon these letters, delivered at the council, Jan. 29, 
1774, by 'the pert, prim, prater of the northern race,' Mr. 
Wedderburne, afterwards Lord Loughborough. 

' After the mischiefs of this concealment, (says he, in one 
place,) had been left, for five months, to have their full opera- 
tion, at length comes out a letter, which it is impossible to 

Qq 



306 



NOTES. 



•ead without horror; expressive of the coolest and most deli- 
jerate malevolence. — My lords, what poetic fiction only had 
jenned for the breast of a cruel African, Dr. Franklin has 
'ealized, transcribed from his own. His, too, is the language 
jf a Zanga : — 

' Know, then, 'twas 1. 

* I forg'd the letter — I dispos'd the picture — 

* I hated, I despis'd, and I destroy.' 

Again: — 

' These are the letters which Dr. Franklin treats as public 
etters, and has thought proper to secrete them, for his own 
private purpose. How he got at them, or in whose hands 
they were, at the time of Mr. Whately's death, the doctor 
has not yet thought proper to tell us. Till he do, he wittingly 
eaves the world to conjecture about them as they please — and 
to reason upon their conjectures. — But let the letters have 
aeen lodged where they may, fi'om the hour of Mr. Thomas 
Whately's death, they became the property of his mother, and 
Df the Whately family. Dr. Franklin could not but know this, 
and that no one had a right to dispose of them but they only. 
Other receivers of goods, dishonourably come by, may plead, 
a.s a pretence for keeping them, that they don't know who are 
the proprietors. Sec' 

And again: — 

' But, if the desiring secrecy be the proof and the measure 
of guilt, what then are we to think of Dr. Franklin's case? 
whose whole conduct, in this affair, has been secret and mys- 
terious ? and who, through the whole course of it, has disco- 
vered the utmost solicitude to keep it so ? My lords, my ac- 
counts say, that, when these letters were sent over to Boston, 
so very desirous was Dr. Franklin of secrecy, that he did not 



NOTES. S07 

chuse to set his name to the letter which accompanied them. 
This anonymous letter expressly ordered, that it should be 
shown to none but a junto of six persons.* If the doctor 
chuse it, I Avill name the six. The direction of every letter was 
erased,t and strict orders were given, that they should be care- 
fully returned again to London. The manner in which they 
were brought into the assembly, all showed the most earnest 
desire of peace. Under these mysterious circumstances, have 
the assembly passed their censures ; and voted this address to 

* This was a favourite topic of censure ; and we shall here present a 
part of Dr. Franklin's answer to the charge. ' But, as it has been roundly 
asserted, (says he,) that I did not, as agent, transmit those letters to the 
assembly's committee of correspondence; that I sent them to a junto, my 
peculiar friends ; that I had ' shown the utmost solicitude to have that 
secret kept ;' and as this has been urged as a demonstrative proof, that I 
was conscious of guilt in the manner of obtaining them ; and therefore 
feared a discovery so much as to have been afraid of putting my name to 
the letter, in which I inclosed them, and which only appeared to be mine, 
by my well known hand-writing ; I would here observe, that, on the same 
paper, was first written the copy of a preceding letter, which had been 
first signed by me, as usual ; and, accordingly, the letter now in question 
began with these words : ' The above is a copy of my last ;' and all the 
first part of it was on business, transacted by me, relating to the affairs of 
the province; and, particularly, two petitions, sent to me, as agent, by the 
assembly, to be presented to the king. These circumstances must, to 
every person, then, have as clearly shown me to be the writer of that 
letter, as my ivell known hand must have done to those peculiar corre- 
spondents of my own, to whom it is said I sent it. If, then, I hoped to be 
concealed, by not signing my name to such a lettei', I must have been as 
silly as that bird, which is supposed to think itself unseen, when it has 
only hid its head.' Works, vol. i. pp. 235-6. 

f The fact is, they had no direction. They were sent under cover; and 
the cover had been lost, before they were put into Dr. Franklin's hands. 
Works, vol. i. p. 229. 



308 NOTES. 

his majesty, against Mr. Hutchinson and Mr. Oliver, upon 
account of a parcel of letters, directed to somebody, they know 
not where. And Dr. Franklin now appears before your lord- 
ships, wrapt up in impenetrable secrecy, to support a charge 
against his majesty's governor and lieutenant-governor; and 
expects that your lordships should advise the punishing them, 
upon account of certain letters, which he will not produce, and 
which he dares not tell how he obtained.'* 

The conduct of Dr. Franklin was truly provoking. During 
the whole of Mr. Wedderburne's invective, he stood before the 
council-table, without a change of feature or of position; and 
the speaker seemed much more angry at the impotence of his 
own rhetoric, than at what he called ' the perfidy' of his victim. 
At breakfast, next morning, Dr. Franklin told Dr. Priestley, 
that ' he had never before been so sensible of the power of a 
good conscience; for, if he had not considered the thing, for 
which he had been so much insulted, as one of the best actions 
of his life, and what he would do again, in the same circum- 
stances, he could not have supported it.' He wore, on this occa- 
sion, a suit of Manchester velvet; and, when he afterwards 
came to sign our treaty at Paris, he was observed to put on the 
same dress. 



NOTE (O). P. 205. 

We owe maple sugar to the revolution. The colonists were 
determined to use, as far as it was possible, none but their own 

* Our account of these letters, and of Mr. Wedderburne's speech, is 
taken from a volume of political tracts, published by J. Wilkie, London, 



NOTES. 3.09 

manufactures; and, among the rest, they had little doubt, that 
the maple-lree would yield them an abundant supply of sugar. 
The following account, though copied from a newspaper of 
1765, may be an article of intelligence even in the present day. 

' Boston, July 4. 
« A gentleman from Athol, in this province, acquaints us of the great 
improvement already made in the sugar-making business, at Bernardston, 
about twenty mile- from that place ; and, as the ingredient from which 
this valuable article is produced, is spontaneous, and purely the product 
of nature, uncultivated by human art, it must doubtless excite the curio- 
sity of many, to be informed of the particular method of procuring it ; 
wliich, as far as we could ascertain from the gentleman, is thus: Having 
chosen out a large maple-tree, suitable for the purpose, they with an axe 
box it, much after the manner of the fir, from which turpentine is ob- 
tained; this being done, a kind of trough is prepared, extending from the 
trunk of the tree on each side, in order to retain the sap, as it runs down. 
Ry this means, upwards of thirty gallons, from one tree, has been ob- 
tained in a day ; which, bemg manufactured after the manner of the syrup 
proceeding from the sugar-cane, produces a sugar, the grain of which is 
equal in firnuiess to the Jamaica ; and the molasses, or treacle, extracted 
from the pressure of the sugar, is very little, if any thing, inferior to our 
West India m .lasses. Of this sugar, (a small quantity whereof was 
brought to this market, to dispose of,) the gentleman says, upwards of 
six hundre ' pounds was made by one man, the last season ; i. e. from Fe- 
bruary to April, inclusive. It is the prevalent opinion of the manufac- 
turers, that a tret- will be serviceable for this purpose twelve or fourteen 
years, with proper usage. When one considers the sti'l greater improve- 
ments that this discovery is capable of, and forms to himself an idea of the 
great utility of such a manufacture, especially in a country that has few 
staple commodities to support it, must he not wish that an adequate 
bounty was provided, or such other ample encouragement allowed, as 
that, at least, we might be able to supply ourselves with these articles .' 
and no longer have recourse to our West India neighbours, who, we ima- 
gine, after this discovery, will be as much necessitous, from the want of 
our lumber, as ever we have yet been for the want of their produce. If 
we could be further stimulated to the proposed encouragement, we need 
only to reflect on the manufactures in some of our southern provinces: 
whose o]iulence arises chiefl}' from some of the most diminutive plants, 
and proceeds more from art in the improvement of these, than from indus- 
try in laboi'ious employments. 

'Besides the above, several himdred weight of this sugar has been 
brought, within these few days past, from various towns, situated in the 
eastern and western parts of this province, for siie; it is said that one fa- 
mily, near Number Four, the last season, made upwards of one thousand 
pounds, of different qualities. It is as pleasant to the taste as any other 
sugar, and very proper to give to children for the chin-cough, at this time 
very prevalent among us.' Pennsylvania Gazette, July 18, 1765. 



310 rsoTEs. 



NOTE (P). P. 217. 

According to Mr. Gordon, the language of the military 
members of parliament, was, in substance, as follows: — 

' The Americans arc neither soldiers, nor never can be 
made so, being naturally of a pusillanimous disposition, and 
utterly incapable of any sort of order or discipline; and by 
their laziness, uncleknliness, and radical defect of constitution, 
they are disabled from going through the service of a campaign, 
but will melt away with sickness, before they can face an ene- 
my ; — so that a slight force will be more than sufficient for their 
I'cduction.' 



NOTE (Q). P. 220. 

Some of our countrymen have recently moved what appears 
to us an idle question, whether Massachusetts or Virginia, Mr. 
Otis, or Mr. Henry, first commenced the revolution.-* Mr. 
Jefferson has been quoted as saying, ' that Mr. Henry certainly 
gave the first impulse to the ball;' but he has since written to a 
gentleman in Boston, that if he ever used such an expression, 
he was speaking with a particular reference to Virginia; and 
Mr. John Adams asserts, on the other hand, that, while Mr. 
Henry is confessed to have come forward, for the first time, in 
1765, Mr. Otis, the champion of Massachusetts, had infused 
the spirit into his own townsmen, nearly four years before. In 
November, 1760, says he, the officers of the customs received 
an order in council, requiring them to carry into execution the 



NOTES. 311 

acts of trade; and to apply to the supreme judicature for ivriis of 
assistants to search all places, in which goods were supposed to 
be secreted, and to seize all goods, upon which the duties had 
not been paid. The court doubted the legality of such writs; 
and appointed the next February term, to hear arguments upon 
the subject. The merchants applied to Mr. Otis; and tendered 
him with fees. He promised to argue the question; but would 
take none of their fees. 

'Mr. Otis,' continues Mr. Adams, 'resigned his commis- 
sion from the crown, as advocate-general, an office very lucra- 
tive at that time, and a sure road to the highest favours of 
the government in America, and engaged in the cause of his 
country without fee or reward. His argument, speech, dis- 
course, oration, harangue — call it by which name you will, was 
the most impressive upon his crowded audience of any that I 
have ever heard before or since, excepting only many speeches 
by himself in Fenuil Hall, and in the house of representatives, 
which he made from time to time, for ten years afterwards. 
There were no stenographers in those days. Speeches were 
not printed, and all that Avas not remembered, like the harangues 
of Indian orators, was lost in air. Who, at the distance of 
fifty-seven years, would attempt, upon memory, to give even 
a sketch of it? Some of the heads are remembered, out of 
which Livy or Sallust would not scruple to compose an oration 
for history. I shall not essay an analysis or a sketch of it at 
present. I shall only say, and I do say, in the most solemn 
manner, that Mr. Otis' oration, against writs of assistance, 
breathed into this nation the breath of life.' 

This may be true in one sense; but we cannot think it is in 
all its extent; and the subsequent language of the same gentle- 



312 NOTES. 

man is much more rational in itself, and somewhat inconsistent 
with that, which he holds here. 'What,' he asks, 'do you 
mean by the American revolution? Do you mean the American 
war? The revolution was effected before the war commenced. 
The revolution was in the minds and hearts of the people: a 
change in their religious sentiments, of their duties and obliga- 
tions.' And, in another place, ' this radical change,' says he, 
* in the principles, opinions, sentiments, and affections of the 
people, was the real American revolution.' In confirmation of 
the same idea, we quote the equally pointed and eloquent lan- 
guage of Mr. Jefferson. ' I suppose,' says he, ' it would be 
difficult to trace our revolution to its first embryo. We do not 
know how long it was hatching in the British cabinet before she 
ventured to make the first of the experiments which were to 
develop it in the end, and to produce complete parliamentary 
supremacy. Those you mention in Massachusetts as preceding 
the stamp- act, might be the first visible symptoms of that design. 
The proposition of that act in 1754 was the first here. Your 
opposition therefore preceded ours, as occasion was sooner given 
there than here. And the truth, I suppose, is, that the opposi- 
tion in every colony began, whenever the encroachment was 
presented to it. The question of priority is as the enquiry would 
be, who first, of the three hundred Spartans, first offered his 
name to Leonidas?' 

The reader will be amused to see what may be called the 
seminal state, and incipient progress of the revolution; and we 
have extracted from the Pennsylvania Gazette, then published 
by Franklin, the series of paragraphs on this subject, from the 
first rumour of an intention to tax the colonies, to the time when 
the spirit of resistance broke into acts of rebellion. The first 



NOTES. 313 

news was vague and exaggerated; and the colonists received it 
without any strong expressions of displeasure. But their mur- 
murs became gradually more loud and distinct; till, at length, 
not satisfied with murmurs, they resorted to violence. 

'Boston, April 6, 1764. 
' Other advices from London are, that the trade between the West 
Indies and North America, as also the revenues of the latter, are now 
under consideration. The duties on molasses, sugars, &c. imported into 
liis majesty's plantations from the P'rench, Spanish and Dutch settlements 
in the ^Vest Indies, but chiefly from the former, it is said, would be deter- 
mined by the latter end of February last. Various are the conjectures as 
to this affair; by some it is said that a low duty will be laid on foreign 
molasses, one or two pennies per gallon, it is thought, is as much as it will 
bear; that there will be a duty of ten shillings per hundred weight on 
foreign sugars; a very large duty, or total prohibition of French rum. It 
is also said a duty will be laid on tea, on wine and fruit from Spain and 
Portugal, imported into the plantations. It is said that the duty on whale- 
bone, exported from the colonies of Great Britain, will be taken off. It is 
said a premium is likely to be granted on hemp, raised in and imported 
from North America. 

' Philadelphia, May 8. 
' Our advices by the packet are, that a scheme of taxation of the Ame- 
rican colonies has for some time been in agitation: That it had been previ- 
ously debated in parliament, whether they had power to lay such a tax on 
colonies which had no representatives in parliament, and determined in 

the affirmative : That on the 9th of March, Mr. made a long harangue 

on the melancholy state of the nation, overloaded with heavy taxes, and 
a debt of one hundred and forty-six millions, fifty-two millions of which 
had arisen witliin the four last years : That by a computation, wiiich he laid 
before the house, three hundred and sixty thousand pounds sterling per 
annum were expended in North America, and therefore it was but rea- 
sonable they should support the troops, sent over for their defence, and 
all the other expenses of the nation, on their account. To raise this sum, 
he proposed that the drawbacks on the re-exportation of particular good.s 
should be discontinued ; that a duty should be laid on East India goods ; 
a duty of seven pounds sterling per ton on all wines from Madeira, &c. ; 
a duty of three pence per gallon on foreign molasses, often shillings per 
hundred on sugars; a high duty on coffee, cocoa, &c., and that rum should 
be wholly prohibited; that wines from Spain, Portugal, &c. first landed 
in England, before sent to America, should have the duty drawn back. 
Besides this, an internal tax was proposed, a stamp-duty. &.c. ; but, many 
members warmly opposing it, this was deferred till next session ; but it 
was feared that the tax upon foreign goods would pass into a law this ses- 
sion ; that these colonies are under great disadvantages, in not having 
sufficient interest in parliament; from the want of which, the West Indies 
have been able to carry any point against them — only that Mi-. Allen, of 
this place, was indefatigable, in remonstrating to many of the mcmliers, 
with whom he was acquainted, on the illegality of an internal tax, and 
Lad considerable influence in preventing it.' 

n Y 



314 NOTES. 

'Boston, May 14, 
•We hear, that the consideration of the duties, proposed to be laid on 
goods imported into the colonies, is postponed to the next session. The 
merchants trading to America, having joined with the respective agents, 
and greatly interested themselves in the above affair.' 

' BosTOTT, Ma)' 17. 
* By letters from London, we find that the merchants trading this way 
have greatly interested themselves in our American affairs. They write 
that our agent, Mr. Mauduit, has been indefatigable in his labours on 
this occasion ; but they fear that all their endeavours will fall short of the 
success they hoped for ; that divers affairs, it is added, are now in agita- 
tion in the parliament, which will affect the interest of the colonies, 
against which, we are assured, the endeavours of our friends at home 
will be continued to the last.' 

'New York, August 20. 
' It is with pleasure we hear some of the principal merchants in Bos- 
ton have come into a resolution to curtail many superfluities in dress; 
and that upwards of fifty have already signed a certain agreement for 
that purpose. Lace, ruffles, &c. are to be entirely laid aside : no English 
cloths to be purchased, but at a fixed price ; the usual manner of express- 
ing their regard and sorrows for a deceased friend or relative, by covering 
themselves in black, is also in the hst of superfluities, and no part thereof 
but tile crape on the hat is retained; instead of which, a crape is to be 
tied on the arm, after the manner of the military gentlemen.' 

* Ne-w York, October 1. 

' Extract of a tetter from England, dated July 17, 1764. 

■ 'There have been several things before our house of commons, 

%ery pernicious to America; some have been dropped, some pursued, 
and some depending. The report of your gaiety and luxury has reached 
your mother country ; and they infer from thence your opulence, which 
is further confirmed by the extravagant expenses of your youth, sent 
here for education ; and therefore you are well able to bear a part of the 
expenses your defence has cost the nation : and can you blame them for 
such a conclusion .■' Is it not natural to infer it from the premises.'" 

'To THE PUBLICK. 

'February 7, 1765. 
*At a time when America esteems herself in danger of having her 
trade injured by restrictions, and trembles at the report of internal taxes, 
which are esteemed unconstitutional, to be raised on the colonies, &c. 

(Signed) 'Ru.sticus.* 

' Boston, April 4. 
• Besides the articles from the London papers, we have seen the re- 
solves of the house of commons, respecting the stamp duty on the 
colonies, fifty -five in number; a terrible string. 

•It is said, that the following observation was made by a member on 
flie hardship of the above mentioned resolve, viz. That where the colonies 



NOTES. 



31i> 



Stand on such hig-li pretensions to independence, on the supreme legiala- 
tive authority of Great Britain, there is no moderating any 'hing.' 

[The duties are, indeed, a terrible string; and, as the bill is contained 
in the same paper, we shall present its heads to our readers.] 
o(/. onall pleas in courts of law. Is. upon the same for more than 100 

25. on bail-pieces and appearances and not exceeding 200. 

on them. Is. 6d. upon the same for above 200 



Is. 6d. on all pleas, &c. in chancery. 

3d. on every copy of such pleas. 

Is. on pleas, &c. in any ecclesiasti- 
cal court. 

6d. on copies. 

21. on all diplomas, certificates, &c. 
of colleges. 

Is. on picas, &c. in admiralty courts. 

6d. on copies. 

10s, upon certioraris, writs of error, 
&c. 

5s. on fines, common recoveries, and 
attachments. 

4s. on any record of nisi prius, as 
judgment, &c. 

Is. On all process, &c. not heretofore 
included. 

10/. upon licenses to practise as at- 
tornies, &c. 

4d. on all bills of lading. 

20s. on all letters of marque, &c. 

10s. upon all grants of offices, ex- 



and not exceeding 320. 

Is. 6d. upon all grants, &c. of 100 
acres ; except leases up to 21 
years. 

Ss. upon the same for above 100 and 
not exceeding 200. 

2s. 6d. upon the same for above 200 
and not exceeding320. These 
confined to the continent, its 
islands, Bermuda and Bahama. 

OS. on the same for lands above 100 
in all other parts of British 
America. 

4s. on above 100 and not exceeding 
200. 

5s. on above 200 and not exceeding 
320. 

41. upon all offices not before men- 
tioned ; except the army, navy, 
and justices of the peace. 

6/. upon ail exemplifications of the 
same. 



cept of the navy, army, and of 2s. 6d. on all contracts, charters. 



the peace. 

6/. upon all acts of incorporation. 

20s. on retailing licenses to sell spi- 
rits. 

4/. upon licenses to sell wine, to per- 
sons not taking out licenses to 
sell spirits, &c. 

3/. upon those who do. 



bills of sale, &c. 

5s. on warrants to audit accovmts, 
passports, policies of insur- 
ance, &c. 

2s. 3d. on all bonds, letters of attor- 
ney, notarial acts, &c. 

3d. on all registers of deeds, &c. 
before mentioned. 



5s. upon guardianships, and letters 2s. on all registers of deeds, &c.not 



of adniinistvaiion, above 20/.; 
seamen and soldiers excepted; 
the duty extenduig t o the con- 
tinent of America, its islands, 
8cc. Bermuda and Bahama. 

10s. upon the same m other parts of 
i3ritish Anieiica. 

6d. upon securities for 10/. 

Is. upon securities for above 10/. 
and not above 20/. 



before mentioned. 
Is. on playing cards. 
10s on dice. 

4J. onall pamphlets and newspapers. 
Id. if larger than a half sheet and 

under a whole sheet. 
2s. not exceeding six sheets. 
2s on all advertisements. 
2d. on all almanancks, &c. on one 

side of one sheet. 



Is. 6(/. upon securities for above 20/, 4d. on all others. These for one 

and not above 40/. year. If for more years, to be 

6d. upon warrants of survev for 100 multiplied by the number, 

acres. " 6d. on every 300, in sums not ex- 



316 NOTES. 

ceeding 50/. as consideration Double duties \ipon all papers, &c. 
for apprenticeships. in other than the English 

Is. on 20, if the sum exceeds 50/. language. 

' Boston, June 3. 
' Our trade is in a most deplorable situation, not one fifth part of the 
vessels now employed jn the West India trade, as was before the late 
regulations; our cash almost gone before the stamp and post-office acts 
are to operate ; bankruptcies multiplied, our fears increased, and the 
friends of liberty in the greatest despondency. What these things will 
end in time only can discover.' 

' BosTox, July 8. 
'The house of representatives, in the last session, appointed the 
Hon. James Otis, Timothy Kuggles,and Oliver Patridge, Esquires, a com- 
mittee to meet the committees ot the assemblies of the whole continent, 
if they see cause, at New York, the 1st of October, to unite in a petition 
to his majesty and the parliament, for relief under the insupportable 
grievance of this Stamp Act, &c. It is hoped neither the governor of 
Vuginia, or any other governor on the continent, will think this so impro- 
per a step as to dissolve their assemblies to prevent it. For we cannot 
thuik any of their excellencies or honors altogether unacquainted with 
act of parliament made immediately after the glorious revolution, which 
declares, it is the right of the subject to petition the king — and — parlia- 
ment sits for the redress of grievances.' 

' Boston, August 12. 
'We hear from Providence, in the colony of Rhode Island, that the 
freemen of that town being lately called, to confer upon such measures as 
should appear to them necessary, relating to the Stamp Act, whereby the 
liberties, the darling boast of the North American subject, which were 
once indefeasible, must be greatly abridged, if not totally annihilated; — 
they accordingly met for the aforesaid purpose, and unanimously agreed 
to appoint a committee to prepare instructions suitable to be given to 
their representatives, for their conduct in the next general assembly, on 
this truly alarming occasion ; and that they are to be laid before the town, 
for their approbation, on the 13th of this instant, at which time those 
sons of liberty are to convene again, for the noblest of all causes, their 
country's good. 

' Boston, August 19. 
* Last Wednesday morning, to the surprise and joy of the public, was 
exhibited on the Great Trees, in the High street of this town, the effigies 
of A BisTRiBUTOR OF THK STAMPS, pendant behind whom hung a boot, 
newly soaieil with a Greenville soal, out of which proceeded the Devil. 
This spectacle continued the whole day without the least opposition, 
though visited by multitudes. — About evening, a number of respectable 
people assembled, cut down the said effigies, placed it on a bier, and, 
covering it wiih a sheet, they pi'oceeded in a regular and solemn manner, 
amidst the acclamations of the populace, through the town, till they 
arrived at the court-house, which, after a short pause, they passed, and, 
proceeding down King street, soon reached a certain edifice, then build- 
ing for the reception of stamps, which they quickly levelled with the 
ground it stood on, and with the wooden remains thereof, marched to 



NOTES. 



317 



Fort Ilill, where, kindling a fire therewith, they made a burnt offering of 
the effigies, for the sins of the people, which had caused such heavy 
judgments as the Stamp Act to be laid upon them.' 



NOTE (R). P. 232. 

His letter, on the subject, to Mr. Richard Corbin, a mem- 
ber of the council, is worthy of preservation. It was obtained 
from Mr. Francis Corbin, a son of the former gentleman. 

' Dear Sir, 

' In conversation at Green Spring you gave me some room 
to hope for a commission above that of major, and to be ranked 
among the chief officers of the expedition. The command of 
the whole forces is what I neither look for, expect, or desire j 
for I must be impartial enough to confess it is a charge too 
great for my youth and inexperience to be entrusted with. 
Knowing this, I have too sincere a love to my country to un- 
dertake that which may tend to the prejudice of it. But if I 
could entertain hopes that you thought me worthy of the post 
of lieutenant-colonel, and would favour me so far as to mention 
it at the appointment of officers, I could not but entertain a 
true sense of the kindness. 

' I flatter myself that under a skilful commander, or a man 
of sense (Avhich I most sincerely wish to serve under) with my 
own application and diligent study of my duty, I shall be able 
to conduct my steps without censure, and in time render my- 
self worthy the promotion that I shall be favoured with now.' 

ANSWER. 

• Dear George, 

' I enclose you your commission. God pi-osper you with it. 
' Your friend, 

'RICHARD CORBIN.' 
Mahsh, Idfe, vol. ii. p. 5. note. 



318 NOTES. 



NOTE (S). P. 234. 

We hardly know whether to consider their answer as serious 
or ironical: — 

' We, the officers of the Virginia regiment, are highly sen- 
sible of the particular mark of distinction with which you have 
honoured us, in returning your thanks for our behaviour in the 
late action; and cannot help testifying our grateful acknowledge- 
ments, for your '•high sense' of what we shall always esteem a 
duty to our country and the best of kings. 

'Favoured with your regard, we shall zealously endeavour 
to deserve your applause, and by our future actions, strive to 
convince the worshipful house of burgesses, how much we 
esteem their approbation, and as it ought to be, regard it as 
the voice of their country. 

' Signed for the whole corps, 

'GEO. WASHINGTON.' 

Marsh, vol. ii. p. 11. note. 



NOTE (T). P. 254.. 

The following anecdote is related on the authority of JNIr. 
Edmund Randolph: — 

' When Colonel Washington had closed his career in the 
French and Indian war, and had become a member of the 
house of burgesses, the speaker, Robinson, was directed by a 
vote of the house, to return their thanks to that gentleman, on 
behalf of the colony, for the distinguished military services 



NOTES. 319 

which he had rendered to his country. As soon as Colonel 
Washington took his seat, Mr. Robinson, in obedience to his 
order, and following the impulse* of his own generous and 
grateful heart, discharged the duty with great dignity; but with 
such warmth of colouring and strength of expression, as en- 
tirely confounded the young hero. He rose to express his 
acknowledgements for the honour; but such was his trepida- 
tion and confusion, that he could not give utterance to a single 
syllable. He blushed, stammered, and trembled for a second; 
when the speaker relieved him by a stroke of address, that 
would have done honour to Louis XIV. in his proudest and 
happiest moment. ' Sit down, Mr. Washington,' said he, with 
a conciliatory smile; 'your modesty is equal to your valour, 
and that surpasses the power of any language that I possess.' 
Wirt's Life o/Vxt. Hen. 3d ed. p. 45. 

* To 'follow an impulse' seems to be rather an inversion of the order; 
but Aristotle, the father of criticism, has a similar expression: — xx-oXahiv 
T7) o^fMft. Art. Rhet. 1. ii. c. 12. Properly speaking, however, we should 
think, an impulse could only be obeijed. 



INDEX. 



[N. B. The figures refer to the United States; and the numerals to the Aborigines.J 



^BERCROMBIE, comma.naer in chiefof North America, 141 — goes against 
Canada, 148 — abortive attack upon Ticonderoga, 150. 

Aborigines. See Indians. 

Abraham, battle on the plains of, 161-3. 

Acadia, or Nova Scotia, 129. 

Adams, Mr. John, Mr. M'Kean's letters to, 295 — opinion concerning the first 
movers of the revolution, 310-11. 

Adirondack's, war of, with the Five Nations, cxxix. 

Albemarle Sound settled by Virginians, 66. 

, duke of, first palatine of Carolina, 68. 

Albany, Fort Orange, subdued, 6o — congress at, 132 — council of war at, 140. 

Alexander, Sir William, 38. 

America, Plato's Atlantis, ix-xii — claimants to the original discovery of, the 
Phoenicians, xi, xii — Welsh, xii — Mandeville's British advent'irer, xiii — 
the Chinese, xv — Norwegians, xvi — Normans, xvii — Germans, ib'd. — 
peopled by the descendants of persons left in a submersion of ground, 
xviii — by emigrants over Behring's Strait, xix — by a7itediluviar!s, xx- 
xxiii — comparison of the different theories, xxiv, xxv — similarities of lan- 
guage, manners, and monuments, xxv — names of places in the New World 
similar to those in the Old, xxvi, xxvii — names of things, xxvii-xxxiii 
— Welsh and American, xxvii, xxviii — Hebrew and American, xxviii-xxx 
— Tartar and American, xxx-xxxiii — Japanese and Mexican, xxxiii — 
remarks upon these similarities, xxxiv — liabilities to error in taking 
down Indian names, xxxiv-xxxvii — in extracting their etymology, xxxvii, 

xxxviii — instance in the word ' culprit,' xxxviii-xli — ' Mohawk,' xii 

' Virginia,' xlii — ' kaniclie,' (sugar-cane), ib. — ' beccos,' xliii — Indian 
traditions unworthy of confidence, xliii-xlvi — similarities of custom, 
monuments, &c. between the natives of the Old and New Worlds, xlvii- 
li — whether they prove the latter to have come from the former, lii-lv 
— what the facts do prove, hi — mounds and pyramids, Ix, Lxi — history 
of, Ixi-lxv — no proof of imitation, lxi — native country of the potato, cxxv, 
note — not of the mosquito, cxi, cxii. 

American military character treated with contempt in England, 217-310. 

Amherst, general, 148 — commander in chief, 153 — purposes to overwhelm 
Canad:', 164 — sends succours to South Carolina, 176. 

Amidas and Barlow's voyage, 5. 

.^n, Mexican and Tartar words ending in, xxxiii. 

s s 



322 INDEX. 

^Indfos, Sir Edmund, governor of New England, 75 — of New York, 76 — 
claims Connecticut and oppresses his own people, ib. — removed, 77 — 
re-appointed, 78. 

Animals attached to particular spots, xxi — whether all created in Paradise, 
xxii. 

Annapolis, Port Royal, 88. 

Anne, queen, attempts to settle the value of coin in Carolina, 92 — orders the 
discontinuance of presents to the colonial governors, 94. 

Apalachi of Florida, whence derived, xxvi. 

Arcliitecture among the early aborigines, Ixxxii. 

, naval, among do. xcviii. 

Argal, capt. takes Pocahontas, 20 — goes against Port Royal, 20, 21 — makes 
Miahadoes tributary, 21 — governor of Virginia, 22. 

Aristotle, 319, note — xi. 

Anninon, Newton's derivation of, xxxvii. 

Associations against British trade and manufactures, 187 — of the Sons of Liberty, 
ib. — non-importation, origin, progress, and dissolution of, 194-5. 

Atala, Hindoo tradition of, xviii. ♦ 

Atlantis, Plato's, is — ideiitified with America, x — how interpreted by differ- 
ent authors, xviii-xxai. 

Atlas, the son of Neptune, ix — a Phoenician admiral, xi. 

Attakullakiilla, a Cherokee ch:ef, 170. 

Ax, Mexican and Tartar words ending in, xxxiii. 

Ayscue, Sir George, agent of Cromwell to Virginia, 27. 



Bacon's insurrection in Virginia, 70. 

, lord, interpretation of Plato's Altlantis, xxiii. 

Jialtimore, lord, patentee of Maryland, 28 — makes laws for his colony, 29. 

Harlow. See Amidas. 

Jiannvell, co), 91. 

Varto7i's New Views of the Indians, xxx — list of American and Tartar words 

from, xxx-xxxiii. 
Jieauhamois, M. governor of Canada, 108. 
Jierkely, Sir W. governor of Virginia, 27. 

, lord, grantee with Carteret, of New Jersey, 64. 

Bermuda, granted to the proprietors of Virginia, 19, 20. 

Becanus proves the Germans the firstborn people, xliii. 

Belcher, Mr., governor of Mass. 105. 

Belhnap, quoted, 123. 

Bernard, governor of Mass. 190. 

Bills of credit in Massachusetts, 83, 98, 100, 103, 107, 127. 

Carolina, 89, 91, 111, 112. 

New York, 93, 94. 

New Jersey, 93. 

~ Connecticut, 93. 

Rhode Island, 107. 

Bijikies and Evertzen take New York, 76. 

Blackstone's derivation of ' culprit,' xxxviii, xxxix. 

Blair, Mr., governor of Virginia, 250. 

Boscaiven, admiral, 134-148. 

Boston, founded, 36 — insurrection of, (in 1689,) 76 — association to issue bills 

of credit, 107 — council of war at, 143 — taxes supported by the people 



INDEX. 323 

of, 147 — riot at, 190 — sets on foot a convention at Fenuil Hall, 191 — 
provokes a quarrel with the soldiery, ] 92 — Capt. Preston c leared, 193 — 
harbour, tea emptied into, 202 — port bill, 202— 'league and co\enant,* 
206 — Neck, guard stationed at, al^^vms the interior, 214 — Neck, fortifi- 
ed, 215 — people resolve to quit ihc peninsula, ib. — select men prevent 
the labourers from working at the barracks, 216. 

Jiosion Gazette, Putnam's letter in thC; 289 — the oracle of Mas. 305. 

JBoudiiiot's Star in the West, xxviii, note — lii. 

Bouquet, col. expedition against the Indians, 180 — defeats the Indians in their 
own way, 181 — design of cutting a new road, 251. 

Braddock, gen. sails to America, 134 — expedition and defeat of, 135, 136— 
death, 137. 

Bradstrtet, col takes Fort Frontignac, 151. 

Bretoti, Cape, the 'Dunkirkof America,' 123— project of taking, Ib. — advan- 
tages of, to the English colonies, 149. 

British, early, circumnavigator, xiv — essay to prove the old language the 
same with that spoken at Dariea, xxviii. 

Bro7vnists settle New England, 32. 

Brooke, lord, 42. 

Buckingham, marquis of, 34. 

Bull, governor of South Carolina, 174. 

Burke, 218. 

Bwmet, Mr. Wm., governor of Mass. 103 — death, 105. 

Mr., governor of New York, and New Jersey, 105. 

C. 

Cabots, voyages of the, 2. 

Cabot, Sebastian, enters the service of Spain, 4. 

Caffiniere, 81. 

Calvert, gov. of Maryland, 28 — is driven to "Virginia, 30. 

Cambridge coWe^e founded, 53. 

Campaign, plan of t)ie first colonial, against Canada, 134 — of the second, 140 
—of the third, 148— of the fourth, 153. 

Canada, first expedition against, 85 — second, 86 — third, 87 — ^fourth, 88 — 
population, in 1747, 130. 

, derivation of, xxvi. 

Canterbury, archbishop of, empowered to govern New England, 37. 

Carolina granted to Lord Clarendon and others, 66, 67 — Locke's constitu- 
tion, 67 — Culpepper, 69 — tithables, ib. — poverty, ib. — abandon Mr. 
Locke's system, 70 — expedition against St. Augustine, 89 — against the 
App'alachian Indians, 90 — disputes with the proprietors, ib. — attacked 
by the Spaniards, ib. — disputes with the proprietors. 111, 112 — bills of 
credit, id. ibid — the proprietary government shaken off, 113-14 — divid- 
ed into North and South, 115 — population, in 1747, 130 — war with the 
Cherokees, 168 — South, defenceless state of, 176. 

———, South, sends delegates to the N. Y. congress, 187 — history of the 
Indians in, clxii. 

North, insurrection against the fee-bill, 196 — history of the Indians in, 

clix, clx. 

Carpets among the early aborigines, citi. 

Cam66e^-like the Hebrew, xxviii- xxx. 

Cataiebas, history of, clxii. 

Carteret subdues Fort Albany, 63 — grantee of New Jersey, 64. 



324 INDEX. 

Carthagenians, supposed voyages of, to America, xi. 

Catholics, Roman, first settlers of Maryland, 28. 

Cave, the Judges', 277. 

Ceremonies, marriage, simitar in Mexico and Hindostan, xlviii— dissimilarities, 
liii. 

Chalmers' derivation of ' culprit,' xl, xli. 

Champlain, lake, secured by the French, 109 — whence named, cxxix. 

Charles I. takes the monopoly of tobacco, 26 — attempts to prevent emigra- 
tion, 36-39 — ^judges of (Goffe and Whalley). See Judges. 

Charles II. restoration of, 28— difference of its effects on Virginia and New- 
England, 56, 65, 69, 73, 74. 

Charleston founded, 70 — attacked by the Spaniards, 90— burnt, 119. 

Charlestoim, Old, founded, 68. 

Clierokees, origin of the war with, (1760,) 168 — chiefs imprisoned, 169 — 
peace, 171 — broken by them, 173 — price of their scalps, 178 — peace, 
il . — history of the tribe, clxi. i 

Chesapeake explored by Smith, 15, 16. 

Chatham, lord, 217, 218. 

China overrun by the Tartars, xv. 

C'/iz>tesesupposedto have founded Mexico, xv-wrecksofvessels in Florida, xvi. 

, inventors of printing and gunpowder, Ix. 

ChickasuTvs, history of, clxiv. 

Chiapaneae of Nicaragua, whence derived, xxvii. 

Chippe-was, history of, civ — their prophet, clxx, note. 

Christian Commomvealth, a book proscribed in Mass. 57. 

, judge, derivation of ' culprit,' xxxix, xl. 

Church, English, established in Virginia, 11. 

, colonel, 84. 

Cho7isidi of Nicaragua, whence derived, xxvi. 

Clap, pi-esident's, opinion on the expense of working mines, 264. 

Clarendon, l(;rd, grantee of Carolina, 66. 

, county of, 67. 

Claybome, driven from Maryland, excites an insurrection and drives out 
' Calvert, 29,30. 

Cleanliness among the early aborigines, Ixxxii. 

Cod, Cape, discovered, 9. 

Colonels Dismounted, a pamphlet, 110. 

Colony, Roanoke, settled by Raleigh, 6 — improvidence and misery of, ib. — 
return to England, ib. — second company, 7 — loss of, 8. 

, Jamestown. See Virginia. 

-, Maryland. See jVIaryland. 



— , New Plymouth. See J^fassachusetts. 
— , Salem. Sec Jl'Iassachusetts. 
—, New Haven. See Connecticut. 
— ,New Hampshire. See JVe^v Hampshire. 
-, Rhode Island. See Rhode Island. 



Colonies, peace concluded between the English and French, 102 — increase 
of, in population, 109 — plan to attack Canada, 126 — French and English 
cross each other, 129 — comparative strength of, 130 — occasion of their 
rupture, 131 — discontent of the English, 139— taxes of, 141 — remissness 
of, censured by Lord Loudoun, 143 — boundaries of the French and 
Enghsh, by the treaty of Paris, 167~all the English, except N. Hamp- 
shire, agree to the proposal of a general congress, 186 — associations 
against British trade and manufactures, 187 — ^joy at the repeal of the 



INDEX. 325 

stamp-act, 188 — profess not to seek independence, 189 — southern and 
middle lukewarm (1770), 196 — plan to test the resolution of, 200— result 
of, 201 — s)'mpathy of the other provinces with Boston, 2J3 — day of 
fasting, humiliation, and prayer, through America, 204 — indignation at 
the bill for quartering troops, 206— devotion to the Philadelphia con- 
gress, 213 — deprived of the fisheries, 218 — their choice sealed, 220 — 
how represented in Hutchinson and Oliver's letters, 300, et seq. 

Columbus, Christopher, 1 — his birth place, 257 — life by his son, ib. — letter 
from, 258 

, Bartholomew, 1 — favourably received by Henry VII. 257- 

, Don Ferdinando's life of his father, Christopher, 257-8. 

Commissioners appointed to govern New England, 62 — success in Massachu- 
setts, 64. 

CoOT7w«ees of correspondence, 197 — of the Philadelphia congress, 210, note, 
211, note, 213, note. 

Connecticut called Fresh River, 63. 

settled, 41 — disputes with the Dutch, ib. — war with the Piquods, 

42 — disputes with Mass. 50, 51 — confederates with New Haven against 
the Dutch and Indians, 52 — charter, 58 — disputes with New Haven, ib. 
— the two united, 59 — part granted to the Duke of York, 62 — govern- 
ment dissolved, 75 — bills of credit, 91 — boundaries, 94 — population in 
1747, 130 — number of troops for 1758, 167 — delegates to the N. Y. con- 
gress, 186 — alarm, 214 — history of the Indians in, cxli — former ortiio- 
graphy of the name, ib. note. 

Congress 2A Albany, 132. 

, general, recommended by Mass. 186 — meets at New York, 187 — 

anecdotes of, 295. 

— at Philadelphia, 207 — proceedings of, 207-213 — extracts of the ad- 
dresses to the English people, to the king, and to their constituents, 
208-10-11. 

Convicts first brought to America, 23. 

Cooke and Oakes, 80. 

Cook's Voyages, xxx — extract from, upon the monuments in the Pacific, 1. 

Cornbury, lord, governor of New York, 92. 

Coton of Chili, derivation of, xxvii. 

Cotton, Rev. Mr., 39-47 — prediction of, 49. 

Cotymore, capt. 172. 

Council of war at Albany, 140 — at Boston, 143. 

Counterblast to Tobacco, extracts from, 266, 269. 

Covenants, controversy of the, 39. 

Coivardice, derivation of, xl, note. 

Creek words like the Hebrew, xxviii-xxx — Indians, history of, 

Cravan, lord, palatine of Carolina, 91. 

Croata?!, 8. 

Cro7n7vell chastises Virginia, 27 — sails for America, 40. 

Croivn Point, first expedition against, 137-139 — taken by the English, 154. 

Cuba, towns of, in 1538, Ixxiv. 

Culpepper revolutionizes Carolina, 69. 

, lord, governor of Virginia, 71. 

Culprit, diflTerent etymologies of, xxxviii — Blackstone's, ib. — Christian's, 
xxxix — Chalmers', xl. 

Cumberlaiid, fort, M'^ashington's letter from, 252-3. 

Custis, Mrs. marries Washington, 254. 



326 INDEX. 

Custom^ similarities of, among the people of the Old and New Worlds, xlvii- 
li — r,o proof of their descent from each other, llv, Iv — but o; 'v of their 
descent n-om a common stock, Ivi-lx — such similarities between nations, 
whicb cannot be supposed to have been ever the same, Iviii-lix — not 
confined to savage nations, lix, Ix. 

B. 

Bale, Sir Thomas, governor of Virginia, 19, 20. 

DalyeU, capt. 179— deatli of, 180. 

Daniel, colonel, 89. 

D'JI.ville's fleet, destruction of, 126-7. 

Dare, Ananias, has the first American child, 7. 

Davenport, one ut the founders of New England, 43 — pi-epares his people for 

tlie reception of Goffe and Whalley, 275 — secrets them, 276 — threaten- 
ed with the pains of comforting traitors, 279. 
Dougherty, lieut. 172. 

Dekiijlaine's Repository, Franklin's life in, 299. 
Delawar, lord, governor of Virginia, 17, 19. 
Dela-aiare, colony of, settled, 63 — delegates to the congress of N. Y. 187 — 

history of the Indians in, cxlvii. 
Indians, their own account of their origin, emigration, &c. cxxiv- 

cxxvii — divisions and sub-divisions of the nation, cxxiv, cxxv — names of, 

cxxiv — made women, cxxvii. 
Delnge, whether universal or not, xx-xxiii — Indian traditions of the, xliv, 

xlv — known to us only by revelation, xlv. 
Demont, 37. 

Depopulation of the Indians, causes of the, clxxxv-clxxxix. 
Densa, Monpeake, lord of, 7. 
Detroit, battle of, 180. 
Dieskau, defeat of, 138. 
Dijonville beaten by Washington, 138. 
Dintviddie. governor of Virginia, sends a letter to the French post, 132, 222 

thwart's Washington's plans, 246 — accuses him of misconduct, 247. 
Discipline and o|)en mode of fighting among the early aborigines, xcvii. 
Dixv>eU, one of Charles I.'s .ludges, 283. 
Dogs, among the early aborigines, Ixxxiv. 
Dongan, ;;overnor of New York, 78. 
Drake, SrF. 6. 

, Major, Putnam's letter to, 289. 

Dress andfu"niture among the early aborigines, Ixxxiii. ' 

Dntcourt, governor of Louisbonrg, 148 — capitulates, 149. 

Duchamhon surrenders Louisbourg to the Enghsh, 126. 

Dudley, governor of New England, 75 — of Massachusetts, 86, 

Dvribar, colonel, 135. 

Du Quesne built, 132 — taken by General Forbes, 152 — name changed to 

Pittsburg, 152. 
Dutch, the, at Manhadoes, made tributary to Virginia, 21— return to their 

former allegiance, 63 — confederate with the Indians, 46 — again, 52 — 

deprived of New York, 63-4 — recapture it, 76. 

, M^est India Company, 63. 

Duties, stamp, laid, 186— repealed, 187 — on tea, glass, &c. 188— results of 

stamp and tea, 194 — list of stamp, 315. 
Duvivier takes Canseau, 122. 



IXDEX. 327 

E. 

East India Company, embarrassment of, 200 — send large quantities to the 

colonies, 201, 
Eaton and Davenport found New Haven, 43. • 

Edinburgh Reviev>, 258. 
Elizabeth, queen, names Virginia, 5. 
Elizabeth's Island, discovered, 9. 
Eloquence, specimen of Indian, cxx.xiv, note. 
Endicot, 35, 273. 
England. See Great Uritain. 
English claims to the discovery of America, 2. 
Enumerated commodities, 57. 

Etchoe, battle of, 175 — second battle of, 177 — burnt, ib. 
Etymologies, liabilities to error in, xxxvii — instance in the word ' culprit,' 

xxxviii — Blackstone's derivation, ib. — Christian's, x.^xix — Chalmers', xl 
Evertzen. See liinhies. 

Every Man in his Humour, extracts from, rehiting to tobacco, 267, note. 
£^ers, Mrs., secretes Goffe and Whalley, 276. 

F. 

Fairy Queen, stanzas from, relating to the mosquito, cxii, note. 

Fasti Oxtniensesuse the word grade, 272, note. 

Fear, Cape, settled by Mass 66. 

Feboure, Le, attacks Charleston, 90. 

Fetnales imported into Virginia, 22 — letter concerning one of the shipments, 
270. 

Femdl Hall, convention :<.*, 191 — tumultuous meeting at, 201. 

Fields and meadows among the early aborigines, Ixxxix. 

Fighting, open mode of, among the early aborigines, xcvii, note. 

Fisheries, the colonies deprived of the, 21S. 

Five JVations, 81 — history of, according to the Dclawares, cxxiv-cxxviii — ac 
cording to themselves, cxxviii, cxxix — according to strangers, cxlii cxlv. 

Flood. See Deluge. 

Florida, discovered, 65 — attacked by Oglethorpe, 118 — why so named, Ixxiii, 
note. 

Forbes, general, takes Du Quesne, 152 — delays of, 252. 

Forts among the early aborigines, xcvii. 

Franklin, Dr. senJs over Hutchinsons and Oliver's ieiters, 197-8 — services 
to America, 198-9, 200— sketcli of his life in Delaphiine's Repository, 
299 — his zeal, ib. — connection with the Hutchinson and Oliver letters 
fully explained, 300 — extracts from VVedderbunie's speech against, 805- 
6-7-8 — letter to Mr. Mather on tlic discovery of America, xvi — American 
edition of the works of, xvii, note. 

Eraser Mr. John, 225, '^Sfi. 

French claims to the discovery of America, 3 — settlements at St. Croix and 
the Bay ofFundy, 21 — granted to St. Etlenne, Crown, and Temple, 53 — 
colony under Ribaud, 65 — acquire the controul over Lake Champlain, 
108. 

Fvontignac, count, falls upon Schenectady, 8-^ 

, fort of, taken, 151. 



328 INDEX. 

G. 

Gage, gen. 155 — gov. of Mass. 204 — proclamation disregarded, 206 — orders 
a guard on Boston Neck, 214 — fortifies it, 215 — seizes the provincial 
magazines, 21'6. 

Gallantry among the early aborigines, Ixxxi. 

Gates, Sir Thomas', charter, provisions of, 10 — governor of Virginia, 19. 

Geor§-/fl settled, 115 — a feudal government adopted, 116 — ruinous condition 
of, ib. — attacked by the Spaniards, 119 — population, in 1747, 130 — his- 
tory of the Indians in, clxiii. 

Germans pretend to be the original discoverers of America, and contend for 
calling it Bohe'uiu, xvii — the first born people, xUii — the ancient, their 
idea of the Deity, Ixiv. 

Gerrish, col. not the only person tried for cowardice at Bunker Hill, 293. 

Gianfs Causeivay, xviii. 

Gilbert, Sir Humphrey, disasters of, 4— death, 5. 

. , Raleigh, 31. 

Girling, 38. 

Gist, Mr., 229, 230, 231. 

Goffe, William, early life of, 272. See Judges. 

Gold, thirst for, among the colonists, 15, 263. 

Gorges, Sir Ferdinando, founds Maine, 44 — claim established, 65 — disputed, 
73 — sells Maine to Mass. 74. 

GosnaUl, first voyage of, 9 — second, 11 — death, 13. 

Government, Indian, clxxiii-clxxv. 

Grade, an English word, 272, note. 

Grant, col. sent against the Cherokees, 176. 

, capt. 180. 

. , gen. boast of, in parliament, 217. 

Grenville, Sir Richard, 6, 7. 

Grotiiis^ opinion concerning the Aborigines of America, xvii. 

GwipoxL'der known in China before its invention in Europe, Ix. 

G-Mxjnelh, Owen, sons of, dispute the succession to N. Wales, xii, xiii — Madoc, 
xiii. 

H. 

Hackluyl, Richard, 9 — his mode of converting the Indians, Ixxix, note. 

Hackhiyt's voyiiges, extract from, the first account of tobacco, lii, note. 

Ha7icock's sloop, seizure of, 190. 

Harris' voyages, extract from, upon the sports of the Tungusians, li. 

Havard, Mr. John, 53. 

JfOfvey, Sir Jolin, governor of Virginia, seized, 20. 

Heath, Sir Robert, 66. 

Hebrew words, list of, resembling the Carribbee, &c. xxviii-xxx — multitude 
of consonants, xliii — customs like those of Mexico, xlvii, xlviii. 

Henlopen settled, 63. 

Henry VII. 1, 3 — receives Bartholomew Columbus with favour, 258. 

IV. of France, o7. 

, Patrick, 110 — Wirt's life of, 286 — whether he or Mr. Otis first com- 
menced the Revolution, 310-12 — anecdote from Wirt's life of, relating 
to Wasiiington, 318. 

Herodotus, nations mentioned by, found in America, xxvi, xxvii.. 

Uillsboruvgh, lord, circular letter of, 189-193. 



INDEX. 329 

Hindoo marriage ceremony like the Mexican, xlviit — unlike, liij. 

Hooker founds Connecticut, 41. 

Holboiini, admiral, 144. 

Holmes, admiral, 156. 

Horse, why not found in America, xlvii, note. 

Houses. European, between the fourteenth and sixteenth centuries, cliii, note. 

Horve, George, viscount, 144. 

, col. 160. 

Hitbley's History of the American Revolution, 292, note, 

Hudson, capt. 21. 

Humbolt's Political Essay, liii. 

Unmphreu'f, Life of Putnam, 289. 

Huns delighted in scalps, xlvii. 

Hjirons, whence derived, xxvi. 

Hutchinson, Mrs., 39 — banished from Mass. ib. 

and Oliver's letters, 197-8— account of, 300, 305 

Hutchinsoji's history of Mass. 271, note. 



Iberville, 84- 

Illinois Indians, cliii. 

Indiana, Indians of, civ. 

Indians attack Roanoke settlement, 6 — Jamestown, 14 — take Snaith, ib. — 
at war with Virginii, 18 — massacre its inhabitants, 24, 25 — war with 
Connecticut, 42 — confederate w ith the Dutch, 46 — again, 5 , 70, 71 — 
Appalachian, beaten by Carolina, 90 — plan to exterminate the Carolini- 
ans, 91, xi — chiefs taken to London, 94 — instigated by the French, 101 — 
Appalachian, Cieek, and Yamassee, beaten. 111— all, except the Six 
Nations, on the side of Canada, 131 — peace concluded with the western, 
152 — wars with the Cherokees, origin of, 168 — mode of warfare, 173, 
177 — peace, 178— war wi^h the Deiawares, &c. 178-9 — peace, 183. 

, whether proved to be antediluvians, or descendants from the na- 
tions of the other hemisphere, ix. See America. 

whether the United States have been inhabited by two distinct 



races of, Ixx — earlier, how different from the later, Ixx — in appearance 
and character, Ixxi —jealousy of their wives, ib. — in their food, Ixxii — 
had telegrapfis, Ixxvi — temples, ib. — vaults, Ixxvii — oaths, Ixxviii — gal- 
lantry, Ixxxi — architecture, Ixxxii— cleanliness, ib. note — luxuries of 
dress and furniture, Ixxxiii — taste in painting, Ixxxiv, note — female 
rulers, Ixxxvi — agriculture, Ixxxix — hereditary sovereignty, xc — walled 
towns, xci, xcii, note — standards, xciii — umbrellas, ib. — dignity of man- 
ners, ib.— discipline and open mode of fighting, xcvii, note— forts, ib. — 
targets, xcviii — naval architecture, ib. — carpets, ciii — use of salt, ib. — 
lame kings, civ — how treated by De Soto, Ixxviii-lxxx — reasons for and 
against the supposition of two distinct races, cxiii-cxxi. 

, probable number of originally, cxxii — in the United States, cxxiii— 

division of, ib. — the Deiawares and Five Nations, historv of, according 
to the former, c.xxiv-cxxviii — history of the Five Nations according to 
their own account, cxxviii, cxxix — Indians in the district of Maine, 
cxxxvi — in New Hampshire, cxxxvii — in Vermont, cxxxviii — in Massa- 
chusetts, cxxxix — Rhode Island, cxl — Connecticut, cxli — New York, 
cxli-cxlv — NewJersey,cxlv — Delaware, cxlvii — Pennsylvania,ib. — Ohio 
cxlviii — Michigan, lUinois, and Indiana, cliii-clvi — Maryland, clvi — ^Vir^ 
Tt 



330 INDEX. 

glnia, clvii — Kentucky, clix — North Carolina, ib. — Tennessee, clx — 
South Carolina, Georgia, and Mississippi, clx-clxv — Louisiana, clxvi. 

Indians, policy of, clxix — government, clxxiii — religion, clxxv — marriage, 
clxxviii — manners, clxxix — games, clxxxi — languages, clxxxiii — money, 
clxxxv — causes of their depopulation, clxxsv-cxc — policy of government 
towards them, cxc. 

Impulse, obeyed, notfolloived, 319, note. 

Iroquois, vi^hence derived, xxii. 

Islands, Pacific, mountains in, xlix. 

J. 

Jaines I 10, 32 — extravagance on the subject of tobacco, 265 — his Counter- 
blast, 265-269. 

ll. 75 — project to consolidate the colonies, ib. — 78. 

Jamesto-wn founded, 12. 

Jefferson, Mr., opinion concerning the first movers of the revolution, 312 — 
notes on Virginia, extract from, relating to the Indian languages, Iv, 
note. 

Jeffreys., Hubert, governor of Virginia, 71. 

Johnson, Sir Nathaniel, governor of Carolina, 90. 

, son of, governor of Carolina, 112. 

— — , William, general, goes against Crown Point, 137 — defeats Dleskau 
and is made a baronet, 138 — at the German Flats, 142. 

's Dr., History of the English Language, xv, note. 

Joncaire, capt. 225. 

Jonson, Ben's, Every Man in his Humour, 267, note. 

Jovtei's History of. La Salle's Last Voyage, c, note. 

Journal of Science and the Arts, extract from, upon the native country of the 
potatoe, Ixxv, note. 

Judges of Charles I. (Goffe andWhalley) land at Boston, 29, 273 — adventure 
with the swordsman, ib. — arrival at New Haven, 274 — search for, 275 — 
Kellond and Kirk, their pursuers, ib. — adventure at Break Neck bridge, 
275-6 - secreted by Mrs. Eyers, 276 — adventure at the cave, 277-8 — 
offer to surrender, 279 — secreted at Mr. Tomkins, ib. — retire to Hadley, 
280 — sudden appearance of one of them, ib. — letter from Goffe, 281-2 — 
graves of the judges, 283 — Dixwell, ib. 

J^imonviile, M., Washington accused of assassinating, 234. 

K. 

Kalm, professor, on the discovery of America, xvi. 

Kellond and Kirk, the pursuers of Goffe and Whalley, 275-279. 

Kentucky Indians, clix. 

Kings, lame, among the early aborigines, civ. 

Kirk, capt. subdues the French colonies, 38. 

— — , commissioner, to search for Goffe and Whalley, 275. 

Kummogkodonattoottwnmooetiteaonganunnonash, meaning of, xxxv. 



i, the double of the Spanish, whence derived, xxvii — cannot be pronounced 

by the Cherokees, ib. note. 
Zame kings and people, among the early aborigines, civ. 
hand-BapJC'IlQiise, 107. 



INDEX. 513 

Laiie, Mr. Ralph, governor of Roanoke colony, 6, 

Laudojiiere, 66. 

Lang^iages of civilized nations, how they differ from those of savage, xxxiv- 

XXXV — of our Indians differ from each other more than those of Europe, 

Iv, note. 

, Indian, clxxxiii. 

La Salle discovers the mouth of the Mississippi, 129— death of, 130— how 

occasioned, c, note. 
Le Baeuf, fort, taken by the Indians, 179. 
Leisier's insurrection in New York, 78 — death, 81. 
Leet, governor of New Haven, 275. 
Lenox, duke of, 34. 
Leon, Ponce de, discovers Florida, &5. 
L^Effcarbot's voyage to America, 3. 
V Estrange^ s Americans no Jews, xxviii, note. 
Levi, the successor of Montcalm, 163. 
-Letmand Clarke, xlii. 
Lexington, battle of, 219-20. 
Little Carpenter, Attakullakulla, 170-2-6-8. 
Littleton, governor of 3. Carolina, abuses the Cherokees, 169— proposes a 

peace, 170 — reception at Charleston, 171-2. 
Jyockt's oonstiution for Carolina, 67 — abandoned, 70. 
Longuil, M., governor of Canada, 108. 
Lord of Dessa Moupeake, 7. 
Loudoiin, earl of, commander in chief of N. America, 141 — censures the re.- 

missness of the colonies, 143 — threatens to march troops into Massachu- 
setts, 145. 

, fort, 169— taken by the Indians, 176. 

Louisiana named, 130 — population in 1747.. 131 — the Indians in, clxvi. 
Loidebourg attacked, 124— taken, 126 — restored to France, 128 — attacked 

again, 148 — taken, 149. 
Lovis IV. 81. 
Lndlov), Roger, gov. of Connecticut, 41. 

M. 

JUadoc, supposed voyage of, to America, xiii — Indian tradition concerning 

xxvii. 
Maine founded, 44 — united to Mass. ib. and 46 — separated from Mass. 65-^- 

history of the Indians in, cxxxvi — united to again, 65. 
Maize^ abundance of, among the early aborigines, Ixxxi-lxxxix. 
Man, how different from other animals, xxii. 
Manahoaci, account of, clvii. 
Mancit ox Peru, v hence derived, xxvii. 
Mandeville, Sir John, anticipates Columbus, in proving the rotundity of the 

earth, &c. xiii, xiv — account of an early British circumnavigator, xiii-xv, 
Manhadoes. See Dutch, the. 
granted to the Duke of York, 62 — taken by Nichols and called 

New York, 63. 
Manners. See Custom. 

, dignity of, among the early aborigines, xciii- 

Maple-siigar owing to the revolution, 308. 
Marblehead, generosity of the people of, 213 
March, col., goes against Canada, 86. 



J32 INUEX. 

Mamage among the Indians, clxxviii. 

Marshall, judge, 166— Life of Washington, extracts from, (Putnam,) 294— 

(Washington,) 317-18. 
Martha's Viney^ird, discovered, 9. 

Murtimis supposed to hare discovered America before Columbus, xvii. 
Maryland scXxIqA, by Roman Catholics, 28 — increase of, 29 — revolutions in, 
29, 30 — population of, (1747) 130— delegates to the N. Y. congress, 187 
— history of the Indians in, clvi. 
Mason founds New Hampshire, 44— claim established, 65— disputed. 7'o. 
Massachusetts, colony of, settled by Puritans, 32, 33 — numbers of. 33 — mor- 
tality, ib. — Salem, 25 — charter, ib. — intolerance, 36— Boston, ib. -as- 
sembly, 37 — quarrel with the French, 38— religious dissensions, 38_9 — 
emigrants, 39 — quo warranto, 40 — prosperity, 45— exori)itant claims, 
46 — adversity, ib — legislature divided into two branches, 47-8 — favour 
the English commons, 48 — dissensions, 49 — disputes with Conn. 50-1 — 
deference to Cromwell, 82 — conduct on the restoration of Charles II. 
59 — disloyalty, 60-62 — quarrel with the commissioners, 64 — curious ad- 
dress, ib. — disputes the claims of Mason and Gorges, 73 — purchase of 
Maine, 74 — a quo ivarranto against the charter, ib. — new charter, 80 — 
bills of credit, 33 — expeditions against Canada, 8.5-6-7 — early resolution 
against being taxed without consent, 93 — boundaries, 94 -dispute be- 
tween the governor and general court, 99, 100, 101 — dispute concerning 
salaries, 103-4-5— terminated, 106 — population (1747,) 130 - drives 
the French from Nova Scotia, 134 — public spirit of. 137 -refusal to 
provide quarters for the British troops, 145 — avowal of dependence 
upon parliament, 146 — zeal of, 147— proportion of its inhabitants on 
dutv, ib. — the leading colony, 152 — troops for 1759, 153— recommends 
a general congress, 186 — delegates to N. Y congress, ib. — resolves to 
oppose a tax in any shape, 188 — Boston mob — 190 — Fenuil Hall con- 
vention, 191 — affray with the soldiers, 192 — obstinacy of the general 
court, ib. — resolution on the order to supercede the provincials in 
Boston with regulars, 197 — disagreement between the governor and 
general court, 205— recommends another congress, and the disuse of 
English merchandise, tea, &c. 205 — the door shut upon the governor's 
secretary, ib. 

, derivations of, xxvi, cxxiv, note. 

. . , Indians, cxxxix 

Massachusitce, whence derived, xxvi. 

MartJia's Vineyard discovered, 9— granted to the Duke of York, 62. 

Mathews, governor of Virginia, 27. 

Mather, Mr., deputed to England by Mass. 75— Dr. Franklin's letter to, on 

the discovery of America, xvi — Magnalia, xxxv. 
Mazatica of New Spain, whence derived, xxvi. 
M'CiiUoch's Researches on America, xviii, note. 
Metxhants, American, recommend provincial taxation, 185. 
Mexican words like Japanese and Tartar, xxxiii — customs like the Hebrew, 
xlvii, xlviii — like the Hindoo, xlviii — Egyptians, ib. — dissimilarities 
in the marriage ceremony, liii — temples, Ixiv. 
Mexico supposed to have been founded by Chinese, xv — improbability of the 

fact, xvi. 
Michigan Indians, cliii. 
Michilimackinack fort surrendered to the English, 165 — taken by the In 

dians, 179. 
J£amies, history of, cliji. 



ixDEX. 333 

jWlboume, Jacob, 81. 

Mines, expense of working, 264. 

Minot, Mr., 146. 

Mississippi explored by the French, 129. 

teiTitory and state, history of the Indians in, clx, he. 

M'-Kean's letter to Mr. Adams, -on the N. Y. congress, 295. 

M'Keiisie^s history of the fur trade, extract from, xViv. 

Mogoles of S. America, whence derived, xxvii. 

Moldcaits, history of, cxli. 

Moha-wk, derivations of, xU — clxxxi, note. 

Mohaxuks, history of, cxxvi. 

Monacaiis, account of, clviii. 

Money distributed among- the colonies, 142, note — Indian, clxxxv. 

Monkton, gen. 160 — death of, 161. 

Monongahela, battle of, 136, 

Monopoly, English, 61. 

Monroe, col. taken by Montcalm, 144. 

Montcalm, governor of Canada, takes and destroys Oswego, 142 — takes Fori 
William Henry, 144 — defender of Quebec, 156 — attacked in his en- 
trenchments, 157 — death of, 162. 

Mnnfgo?nery, col. sent against the Cherokees, 174 — retreat, 175. 

J^fontreal, first expedition against, 83 — taken, 165. 

Monuments, Egyptian, Pacific, Mexican, and Peruvian, similar, xlix. 

Moore, governor of Carolina, 89. 

Moscoco succeeds De Soto, cvii — arrival at Minoya, cviii — constructs brigan- 
tines to descend the river, ib. — attacked by the Indians, cix — by the 
mosquitos, ex — arrival in New Spain, cxiii. 

Moses, whether ignorant or not of the New World, xx-xxvi. 

Mosquito not peculiar to America, cxi, cxii. 

Mounds, history of, Ixi-lxv — along the Mississippi, like the pyramids of Mex- 
ico, Ixvi. 

Murray, gen. 157 — stationed in Quebec, 163 — attacks Levi, 164. 

■ N. 

JK'umes, similarities of, in the languages of the Old and New Worlds, xxvi- 
xxxiii — sources of error in obtaining Indian, xxxiv-xxxvi — differently 
spelt in different languages, xxxvi. , 

JVantucket granted to the Duke of York, 62. 

JVarragansetts, history of, cxlii. 

JVatchees, history of, clx. 

J\/'ecessity, fort, 233. 

JVegroes first brought to America, 23 — seduced by the Spaniards, 117 — mob 
of, at Stono, ib. 

JVepi of Trinidad, whence derived, xxvi. 

JVeplune, ix. 

JVew Amsterdam, or Manhadoes, surrendered to Nichols, 63 — called New 
York, ib. 

J\''exvcastle, (Casimir) founded, 63. 

cVew England, when named, 32 — settled by Puritans, ib. — new patent of, 
granted to the Plymouth company, 34 — colonics of, unite against the In- 
dians, 36 — except Rhode Island, 37 — comparison of, with Virginia in the 
progress of its population, 55 — how affected by the restoration of Charles 
IT., 56 — governed by commissioners, 62 — population and military force 



So 4 INDEX. 

in 1669, 72 — war with Philip, ib. — under James IV .'s council, 75— « 
throws it off, 76 — complaint of the scarcitj^ of money, 106 — preparation 
to attack Cape Breton, 123 — ciiaracter of the army, 125 — alarmed at 
the news of D'Anville's expedition, 126 — proportion of forces to be 
raised in 1757, 143 — furnishes troops for the Spanish and French war, 
(1761,) 166. 

JVew France, surrender of, 165. 

JVewgate, in Connecticut, 263. 

J\"e^v Hampshire founded, 44 — united to Mass. ib. and 46 — religious dissen- 
sions, 45 — divided from Mass. 65 — united to, again, ib. — made a royal 
government, 74-86 — population in 1747, 130 — number of troops for 
1758, 137 — dechnes assent to a general congress, 186 — history of the 
Indians in, cxxxvii. 

JVev! Haveii founded, 43 — form of government, ib. — confederates with Conn 
against the Dutch and Indians, 52 — united to Connecticut, 59. 

JVew Jersey granted to the Duke of York, 62 — granted to Berkeley and Car- 
teret, 64 — united to New England, 75 — charter surrendered, 77-92 — 
bills of credit, 93 — population in 1747, 130 — delegates to the N. Y. con- 
gress, 186 — history of the Indians in, cxlv. 

JVevj JVetherlunds conquered, 63-4. 

JVew Orleans ioun^ed, 130. 

Jfeivport, captain, 11, 16, 17, 19. 

JYeivspapers, extracts from, Cherokee scalps, 288 — Mr. Otis, 297-8 — maple- 
sugar, 303 — the revolution, 313-316. 

JVewton's derivation oi Arminon, xxxvii. 

JVe-w York, part of, granted to the Duke of York, 62 — city, 63 — united to 
New England, 75 — taken by the Dutch, 76 — first assembly, 77-83 — plan 
for the defence of, 85 — sufferings by the West India fever and Lord 
Cornbury, 92 — early resolution against being taxed without consent, 93 
— bills of credit, ib. 94 — disputes with Canada, 108 — population in, 
(1747,) 130 — delegates to the N. Y. congress, 186 — history of the In- 
dians in, cxli-cxlv. 

Xlagara store-house and fort built, 108 — first expedition against, 139 — taken, 
155. 

, derivation of, xxvii. 

.Yichols, col. 62 — takes New Amsterdam, 63 — governor under the Duke of 
York, 64. 

Mcholson, 67 — takes Port Royal, 88. 

, Francis, governor of Carolina, 115. 

JVootka, heard Yucuatl by Cook, xxxvi. 

JVormans pretend to have discovered America before Columbus, xvii. 

J\i'orth, lord, 217 — attempt to divide America, 218. 

JVorwegians, supposed discovers of America, ivi. 

.Yotes, 257, &c. 

JYova-Scotia granted to Sir W. Alexander, 38 — annexeifl to Mass. 80 — expe- 
dition against, 86 — ceded to England, 88 — population of, (1747,) ISO- 
taken by Mass. 135. 

O. 

Oaths among the early aborigines, Ixxviii. 

Officers, disputes between the American and English, 14t 

Og-den's Mr., conduct at the N. Y. congress, 296. 



i:ndex. 335 

Oglethorpe, the founder of Georgia, 115 — major geiieial of Geoigia and Ca- 
rolina, 117 — enters Florida, 118. 

Ohio Compmiy, 131 — traders seized, il). 

— — , state of, history of the Indians in the, cxlvili, he. 

Oil cultivated in Carolina, 20. 

Oliver. See Hutchivsoii. 

Olopali of Florida, whence derived, xxvi. 

Opechancanough, 24. 

Orleans, duke d', 109. 

Ortez, John, saved by the daughter of King Ucita, 262 — found by De Soto, 
cxxvii. 

Oswego, store-house and fort built, 108 — destroyed by Montcalm, 142. 

Olis, Mr. James, best speaker in the N. Y. congress, 295 — his advertisonx' - 
against the king's officers, 297 — assaulted in the British coffee-hoMs^, 
298 — dies of his wounds, 299 — whether he or Patrick Henry commencf:: 
the revolution, 310-12. 

Ottawas, history of, cliv. 

Ouconnostota, Cherokee chief, 169-170 — stratagem to take Fort Prince 
George, 172. 



Face, Mr., 25. 

Pacific, continent sunk in the, xxiii — monuments in the islands of the, xlix. 

Paintings among the early aborigines, tasteful, Jxxxiv. 

Pama-quid fort, 84. 

Paper-monev. See Bills of Credit. 

Paria, in South America, derivation of, xxvi. 

Paris, treaty of, (1760,) 166. 

Parliament, proceedings of, on the subject of the disputes in Mass. 162 

reproves Massachusetts and calls for the traitors, 193,-4 — orders the 
provincials to be superceded by regulars in Boston, 197 — plan to tax 
the colonies, 200 — result of, 201 — proceedings on hearing the intel- 
ligence, Boston port-bill, &c. 202 — additional measures of coersion, 217. 

Parsons' cavse, in Virginia, 109-111. 

Penguin, a Welsh name, xxvii. 

Penn, William, purchases a part of New Jersey, 77 — obtains the charter of 
Pennsylvania, 78— lands in America, 79— captain-general, 79— disputes 
with lord Baltimore, 79— code of laws, ib— charter of, granted upon a 
military consideration, &c. 281. 

Pennsylvania, settlement of, 79 — population of, (1747,) 130 — delegates to 
the New York congress, 186— history of the Indians in, cxlvii, &c. 

Gazette, extracts from, relating to maple sugar, 309— to the 

early progress of the revolution, 313-17. 

Penobscot Indians, cxxxvi. 

Philadelphia founded, 79— congress at, 207 — Indian name of, cxlviii. 

Philip's war, 72— death, 73. 

Phipps, Sir Wm. governor of Mass. 80-1— expedition against Port Royal, 82. 

Phoenicians, supposed voyages of to America, xi-xii. 

Peace, treaty of between England and France in 1760, 165— broken off, 166 
— concluded, 167. 

Pepperel, co\. 123. 

Percy, capt. governor of Virginia, 18-19. 

Peru, monuments in, like those of Egypt, xlix. 



336 INDEX. 

J*estilencc amoiifj the aborigines, account of tlie, cxxxvii, note- 

Peters, Hiigli 50. 

Pitcairn, major, 219. 

Pious violence, the Spanish doctrine of, Ixxviii, note. 

Pitt, his popularity in America, 147. 

Pittsburg, formerly Du Quesne, 152. 

Pignods, war with, 42 — extirpation of, 43 — history of, cxii. 

^/(i^o's Atlantis, America, ix, xii, xviii, xxiii — Moses speaking in Greek, xxiii, 

Plymouth Company, first colony of, 31 — return to England, Z2 — second colo- 
ny, 33 — new patent, 34. 

— New, founded, 33 — troubles of the colony, ib. — charter, 34 — an- 
nexed to Mass. 80. 

Pocahontas saves Smith, 14 — marries Rolfe, 20 — parallel to Smith's adventure 
with, 266. 

Policy, Indian, clxix — of the Federal Government towards the Indians, cxc, &c. 

Poor English, first settlers of Georgia, 115. 

Popham, George, 31— Sir John, 32. 

Port Royal, seized by Argal, 21. 

in Carolina, 68. 

Potatoe, America the native country of Ixxv, note. 

Pota-waiimies, history of, cliv. 

Po-whatan, releases Smith, 14 — death of, 24. 

, CO: federacy, clvii, clviii. 

Presqu' Isle, taken by the Indians, 179. 

Prest07i, capt. trial of, 193. 

Price paid to the Indians for the Western half of Pennsylvania, cxxxlii, note. 

Prideaux, gen. takes Niasfara, 155 — killed, ib. 

Prince George fort, 169-172-174-175-177. 

Prince of Orange, 76-80. 

Printing known in China before its invention in Europe, Ix. 

among the early aborigines tasteful, Ixxxiv. 

Proprietors of Carolina, tyrannical proceedings of, 111-112 — surrender their 
interests, 113-14. 

Providence, in Rliode Island, founded, 40. 

Psammiticus^ mode of ascertaining the eldest nation, xliii. 

Puritans, first settlers of New England, 32-34. 

Pjitnam, 183— original letter from, i89-29l — accused of cowardice at Bunk- 
er's Hill, 292— folly of the charge, 292-294. 

Pyramids in Egypt, the Pacific, Mexico, and Peru, xlix — not designed as mo- 
numents for kings, hii — history of, Ixi-lxv. 

Q. 

Quakers, 54. 

QMrtrter/?/i?ev«'ew,extractfrom, on the nativecountry of the potatoe, Ixxv, note. 

Quebec, first expediion against, 83 — besieged by Wolfe, 156 — strength of, 

ib. — capture, 163. 
Queens, among the aborigines, Ixxxvi. 
Quo -warranto, against Virginia, 25 — Massachusetts, 74. 

R. 

Sadondo, general, 121. ' 

Ralle, Instigates the Indians to war upon the English colonies, 102. 
Randolph, Edward, 73-4. 



INDEX. 337 

Randolph, Peyton, president of the Philadelphia congress, 207 — raises a 

company of volunteers, 241. 
Ratclijf'e. captain, 11 — president of Virginia, 13. 
Raleigh, sir Walter's first colony, 5 — returns to England, 6— second colony, 

7 — loss of, 9. 
Heligion, Indian, clxxv. 

Tiemains, animal, on the tops of mountains, whether they prove the univer- 
sality of the deluge, xx, note. 
liez'olution, seeds of, 184 — who first began the, 310 — opinion of Mr. Adams, 

311 — of Ml- Jeft'erson, 312 — newspaper paragrraphs showing the origin 

and progress of the, 3l3 .317. 
Rhode Island settled, 40 — refused admittance to the union of New England, 

47— charter, 38-04 — government dissolved, 75 — boundaries, 91 —bills of 

credit. 107 — population, in 1747, 130 — delegates to the New York con- 

gress, 186 — history of the Indians in,cxl. 
Riband settles Florida, 65. 
Ris-ivick, treaty of, 85. 
RoadfTom Raystown to Du Quesne, 251. 

Roanoke, first colony of, 5 — returns to England,6 — second, 7 — loss of, 9. 
Ros-well, sir Henry, 35. 
Ruggles, Timothy, president of New York congress, 187 — his conduct there, 

29.5 — refuses his assent to the Massschusetts resolutions to encourage 

domestic manufactures, 296. 
Rulers, female, among the early aborigines, cxxxvi. 
Russel, Dr., 16. 
, Rev. John, 280. 



Sacks, whence derived, xxvii. 

Salaiies, disputes concerning in, Massachusetts, 103-4-5, 197- 

Saiem founded, S5— made the port of entry, 202 — address to gov. Gage, 206, 

Salt, used among the early aborigines, ciii. 

Sargle, "Wil'iam, 68. 

Sarracus, the Pequod chief, 42. 

Saunders, admiral, 156. 

Savages, never ruled by women, Ixxxvii-lxc, 

Saybiook, founded, 42. 

Scalps, price of Cherokee, 178, 288. 

— , among the Huns, xlvii. 

Schuyler, col., 93. 

Scire facias against the charter of Carolina, 114. 

Skakies, town of the, in regular streets, cliii. 

Shirley, Mr., governor of Mass. 107 — plan to take Cape Briton, 123^ — abortive 

attempt upon Nova Scotia, 127 — goes against Niagara,l39. 
Shute, Mr., governor of Mass. 99 — disputes with the general court, 99-100. 
Silk, in Virginia, 57 — in Carolina, 70. 
Silk-ivomis, found in America, Ixxxvi, note. 
Sillery. battle of, 164. 
Silvei; prices of, 83-93-101-107-108-128. 
Six JVations, how formed, 91-2. 
Slaughter, Henry, governor of New York, 81. 
Slaves- See J\'egroes 

Small-pox, in the South Carolina army, 171. 

Smith, captain ^ohn, abuse of by the colonists, 12 — services of the colony, IS. 

u u 



338 INDEX. 



Smith, cap. John, adventure with Pocahontas, 14~explores the Chesapeake, 
15-16 — president of Virginia, ib. — returns to Fngland, 18. 

' explores New England. 32 — early life of, 262. 

— — , sir II. assignee of sir W. Raleigh, 8. 
-, heut. col. 219-20. 



Solon, X. note, xxiv. 

Somers, George, 17. 

•Sons o/" iy«6er/?/, association of, 187. 

Sovereignty, hereditary among the early aborignes, xc. 

iSo^Ae^, Seth, proprietor of Albemarle. 69, 

Soto, De, history of his expedition, Ixxiii, note — early life of, Ixxiv — arrival 
at Cuba, ib. — in Florida, Ixxvi — finds Ortez, Ixxvii — ^journey to Cali- 
quen, Ixxix-'xxx — treatment of the Indians, Ixxx — arrival at Apalache, 
Ixxxi — at Toalli, Ixxxii — at Ocute, Ixxxiv — at Aymay, Ixxxv— treat- 
ment of queen Cutifachiqui, Ixxxix — arrival at Chiaha. ib. — reception 
from the king of Coga, xc — walled towns, xci-xcii — reception by the 
king of Tascaluca, xcii-xciii — arrival at Mavilla, xciv — battle with the 
Indians, xcv— battle of Chica^a, xcvi — arrival at the Mississippi, xcvii 
— conduct to king Aquixo. xcviii — arrival at Pachaha, xcix— journey to 
CoH^oa, cii— arrival at Tanico, ciii — at Tulla, civ — winters in Autlam- 
que. civ — journey down the Mississippi, cvi — death of, cvii — courses 
and distances of his expedition, cxiii, note. 

Southampto-'i., earl of, 271. 

Spam, grant of the New World to, by the Pope, 3 — wars with, 89, 116, 166. 

Spaniards, defeated in Carolina, 91 — in Georgia, 121. 

Sfjencer stanzas from, relating to the mosquito, cxii, note. 

Sperrv.Wc.,277. 

Stuwp-c-ct, passage of, 186 — repealed, 187. 

Stantp-ihities. first suggestion of, cried out against, 185 — laid, 186 — result of, 
199 -list of. 315." 

Stnn-lo-da among the early aborigines, xciii. 

iS*. A->i:rvMine. expf f.Lt'on against, 118. 

Sit't'hffni, E^ov , of .\ibetoar)e, 68. 

Stflci, Dr. 43 • Histon of the Judges of Charles I. 272, note — extracts from, 
^'73- :76-277-'^80-281. 

Stitri, q\'0te'', 15-18. 

Stcvo, nf^gi '■ nob at, 117. 

Sfvtnesant surrenders New- Amsterdam, 63. 

Svgar, maple, jOi->. 

_ cane, derivation of the Caribbee name, xlii. — history of the plant, 

xlii-x'iii 

Svf'.lk Jie&oluliom, 207. 

S-weths settle in Delaware, 63 — purchase the land of the Indians, cxlvii. 
S-wift, extracts from the letters of, relative to tobacco, 269. 



Tanqnir in Chili, derivation of, xxvii. 

Tiirgets among the early aborigines, xcviii. 

Tartar words resembling American, xxxi xxxiii. 

Taxation, provincial, recommended to parliament by American merchants, 

185. 
Tax on the colonies, first suggestion of, 133-4, 
Taxes, colonial, 141. 



INDEX. 339 

Tavipoenamono, meaning of, xxxv. 

Tea, duty on, 188 — result of, 200 — sent in large quantities to try the colonies, 
200-1 — thrown into the sea at Boston, and into damp cellars at Charles- 
town, 201-2. 
Tecumseh, plans of, clxxi. 
Telegraphs among- the early aborigines, Ixxvi. 
Temple, Great, in Mtxico, Ixiv. 
Temples among the earl\ aborigines, Ixxvl. 
Tennessee Indians, clx. 

Thoro-wgood's Jews in America, and L'Estrange's answer, xxviii, note. 
Tiahuanac, monuments in the city of, xlix. 
Ticoncleroga, attack upon, by gen. Abercrombie, 150 — taken by gen. Amherst, 

154. 
Tithabies in Carolina, 69. 

Tobacco first cultivated in Virginia, 21 — salaries paid in, 109 — prices of, 109- 
111. 

by whom introduced into England, 264 — whence its name, 265 — ■ 

Icing .Tames' Conntevblnst to, ib. — what diseases now used for, ib. note — • 
extracts from the Co2int<-rbla>st,2S6-2&9~-fTom Ben Jonson, 267, note — 
prevalent use of tobacco, 269- -law against, in Connecticut, 270 — first 
account of, lii — smoking likened to the Jewish incense, ib. 
Tomkins, Mr., secretes Goffe and AVhalley, 279. 
Tomogali of S. America, whence derived, xxvii. 
Toivnshend, gen., 157-161-163. 

Mr., cliancellor of the exchequer, 188. 

To^vns, walled, among the early aborigines, xci-xcii. 
Traditions, Indian, entitled to little credit, xliii-xlvi. 

Troops, removed from Boston, 193 — regular substituted for provincial in Bos- 
ton, 197 — 2 regiments sent for to Boston, 214. 

Virginia, conduct of, 24 >-4. 

TrumbxdVs History of Connecticut, extract from, relating to mines, 264 — to 

tobacco, 270— to Yale College, 285. 
TimgiisiaTii, mode of diverting themselves, li, . 
Turtle Creek, battle of, 180. 
Tiiscarorus, history of, cllx. 
Two-penny Act, a pamphlet, 100. 

U. 

Uvibrellas among the early aborigines, xciii. 

United States, whether the territory of, has been occupied by two distinct 

races of Indians, Ixx. 
Union, first plan of, among the colonies, 132-3. 
Utrecht, treaty of, 129. 



Vane, Mr. Henry, governor of Massachusetts, 38-9. 

Tarazan, 65 — his account of the early aborigines, Ixxi-Ixxiii — of a savage 

tribe to the north, cxv. 
Vaudreidl, governor of Canada, 102, 164. 
Vaidts among the early aborigines, Ixxvii. 

Vega, extract from his commentaries, upon the Peruvian monuments, xlisr 
Venango fort taken by the Indians, 179 



340 INDEX. 

Vermont, Indians of, cxxxviii. 

Fillier. M. defeats Washington, 233. 

Violeilce, pious, Ixxviii, note. 

Virginia, oTi^'m of the name. 5 — first American child so called, 7. 

, colony of, settled, 12 — war with the Indians, ib.— numbers, ib.— 

mortality, internal dissensions, 13 — reduced state, 13-14 — thirst for 
gold, 15 — first remittance, ib. — new charter, 17 — new settlers, 18 — un- 
der Percy, 18 — war with the natives, ib. — departure for England and 
return, 19 — prosperity, 20 — partitions of land, 20, 21 — culture of tobac- 
co, 21 — first assembly, 22 — female emigrants, ib. — convicts, 22 — consti- 
tution, ib. — Indian massacre, 25 — a quo ^varranto, ib. — numbers and 
profits, ib. — assembly superseded, 26 — Governor Harvey seized, ib. — 
assembly revived, 27 — chastisement by Cromwell, ib. — rebellion against 
him, ib. — emigrant cavaliers, 28 — quarrel with Lord Baltimore, ib. — 
favoured by Charles II. 57 — obedience to him, ib.— difficulties, 70 — acts 
respecting tobacco, 61 — Bacon's insurrection, ib. — change in judica- 
ture, 71 — population and military force in 16: 1 and 80, 72 — Parsons' 
cause, 1(J9 — population of, in 1747, 130 — abuse of the Cherokees, 168— 
resistance to the stamp-act, 186 —asserts the right of imposing her own 
taxes, 194 — appoints a day of fasting, &c. 204 — military laws, 241— in- 
competent legislation, 242 — unwise measures of defence, 242-3-4. 

, new derivation of, xlii — history of the Indians in, clvii. 

Vernon, admiral, 117. 

W,., 

Walpole, Sir Robert, 109. 

Warfare, Indian mode of, 173. 

Wtm^en, admiral, 124. 

, doctor, 219. 

Warwick, earl of, 48. 

TVashington, birth and early life of, 221-2 — mission to the French posts, 22o~ 
negotiations with the Indrans, 2.33-4 — Capt. Joncaire, 225 — difficulties in 
retaining the friendship with the Indians, 227 — perilous voyage down 
French Creek, 228-29-30 — visits Queen Aliiquipa, 231 — made lieutenant 
colonel, and defeats Jumonville, 232 — becomes colonel, 233 — defeated 
at Fort Necessity, ib. — accused of assassinating M. Jumonville, 234 — 
resigns, 235 — vohmteers as aid to Braddock, ib. — at the battle of Mo- 
nongahela, 236 — lays the defeat to the regulars, 237 — appointed com- 
mander in chief, 238 — distressed situation of, 239 — zeal for the de- 
struction of Du Quesne, 245 — plans thwarted by Governor Dinwiddie, 
246 — accused of misconduct, 247 — traduced by his enemies, 248 — urges 
the necessity of'immediate operations, 250 — remonsti'ates against cutting 
a new road, 251 — resigns, is made a member of the legislature, and 
marries Mrs Custis, 254 — his character, 255 — letters from, 317-18 — an- 
ecdote of, 318. 

Webb, gen. at Wood Creek, 142— at Quebec, 160. 

Wedderburne's speech against Dr. Franklin, extracts from, 305-8. 

Welsh pretend to have discovered America before Columbus, xii — names 
among the aborigines, xxvii, xxviii. 

West, Mr. Joseph, governor of Carolina, 69. 

West-Rock, the Judge's Cave in, 277. 

Whalley, Edward, early life of, 272. See Judges- 
White, governor of Roanoke, 7, 8. 



INDEX. 141 

Wild, Thomas, 50. 

Williams. Roger, founder of Rhode Island, 40. 

William and Mary, 76-80. 

— — , college of, 85. 

rFiVie cultivated in Carolina, 70. 

Wiiigfield, first president of Virginia, 12. 

Winnebagoes, accounts of, civ. 

Winslort), col. takes Nova Scotia, 135 — goes against Crown Point, 141. 

Winthrop, gov. of Mass. 50. 

Conn. 58. 

TVii-t's Life of Patrick Henry, 286 — extract from, relating to Washington, 318. 
Wives, letter concerning the shipment of, 270 — how treated among the early 

aborigines, ixxi-lxxxi — how, among the present Indians, Ixxxviii. 
Wolfe, general, 148-153 — besieges Quebec, 156 — attacks Montcalm in his 

entrenchments, 156 — second plan of attack, 158 — depressure of spirits 

and loss of health, 159 — third plan, 160 — battle on the plains of Abra- 

ham, 161-2— death of, 162— letter from, 286. 
Women. See Females and Wives. 

, peace-makers among the Indians, cxxvii. 

Wyandots, history of the, cxlix. 



Y. 

Vale College founded, 9^5 — fixed at Saybrook, 96 — removed to New Haven, 
97 — number of students in 1717 and 1817, ib. — named after Governor 
Yale, 97, 285. 

Yale, governor, endows Yale College, 97. 

Yankee derivation of, cxxiv, note. 

Yeamans, governor of Clarendon county, 67- 

Yeardley, governor of Virginia, 21-22. 

York, grant to the duke of, 62. 

Island, 63. 

Z. 
Zipangn, of Hispaniela, whence derived, xxvii. 



ERRATA. 

THE ABORIGINES. 



Page xi, line 1, for factions read fictions. 

xxiv, — 6, from the bottom, for sixty-sixth read seventy-sixth. 

- xxxiv. 12. dele appear to. 

^— . xliv. 13, after of insert the. 

Ivii. 6, fron. the bottom, after leaves, zn.fer« the. 

- Ix. 12, dele both, 

- xc, —— 13, from the bottom, for ever read never. 
■ xcv. 6, — for which rend with. 

ci, 10, for his read the. 

cv. 12, for away, ?'carf way. 

— — cxxii. 5, from the bottom, for 400,000 read 4,000,000. 

cxxiii, last, for 9,000 read 90,000. 

clxxi. 8. dele his. 

clxxxv. 7. from the bottom, for effects, read consequences, 

- cixxxix. 1, of the note, for Delaware, read Pennsylvania. 

THE UNITED STATES. 

Page 56, line 15. for Colony i-ead Colonies. 

59, last, for (E) read (F). 

- 88, 10, for who ri'ad which 

- 186, last, insert New York. 

187, — — 3, (or Thomas read Timothy. 

_ 243, 19, for aljsent rend about. 

— — 262, 23, for Veiia read Ucita, 

—^ 311, — — 7, for with read large. 










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